Julie Biuso's Spring Salad
Julie Biuso's Spring Salad Photo: Julie Biuso \ Shared Kitchen
Serves 6
Fresh green things abound in spring. Make the most of them by combining a selection of them in a fresh and tangy salad. This will go with anything: roast chicken, barbecued meats or vegetables and stuffed and baked vegetables for starters.
Ingredients
700g small new potatoes
- Salt
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- Finely grated zest ½ lemon
- 2 tsp flaky sea salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp creamy Dijonnaise mustard
- 5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp plain unsweetened yoghurt
- 100g green beans
- 250g asparagus
- 200g trimmed rocket – choose fatter leaves rather than spindly ones if you can
- ½ cup mint leaves
- ½ cup basil leaves
Method
1 Cook the potatoes in gently boiling salted water, or steam, until tender. Drain, cool, then peel. If the potatoes are larger than a walnut, cut in half.
2 Whisk lemon juice, zest, flaky sea salt, pepper and mustard together in a bowl. Whisk in the oil, then the yoghurt. Let the dressing stand for 15 minutes, then whisk again before using.
3 Trim the beans and cook for about 5 minutes in boiling salted water, keeping them a little crunchy. Drain and refresh with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.
4 Trim asparagus and cook in gently boiling salted water for about 3 minutes. Drain and refresh with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.
5 Layer the vegetables and herbs in a large salad bowl (potatoes, asparagus, beans and rocket), scattering over mint and basil as you go. Re-whisk dressing and pour over salad. Toss and serve.
Recipe Notes
There is plenty of dressing in this salad (deliberately, as potatoes need a good dousing), allowing you to add more rocket, asparagus, beans or potatoes if you have extra.
I used Piccolo potatoes by Wilcox in the photograph – a mix of regular potatoes and purple and red-skinned ones – but use what you have available, as long as they are a waxy or salad potato to be sure they will hold together.
You can add avocado, edible flowers and other fresh herbs such as fennel fronds, chives and small nasturtium leaves, and any lettuce leaves you have in your garden, or even bulk it out with good old iceberg lettuce.