Love Bites Seasonal Green Salad

This vege salad was inspired by a recipe by the vege master himself Ottolenghi. The beauty of this salad is that you can add any green vegetables into it that are in season which makes it very versatile (tendersteam broccoli, edamame beans, and courgettes are good alternatives). It is a great accompaniment to any meat especially fish (see pics below) or served as a main by itself. Each veg creates an exciting texture to the dish and the pop of colour from the chilli and black onion seeds makes this salad a sure must go to for Spring.

INGERDIENTS

Green Salad:

• 200g bunch of asparagus, sliced lengthwise or at an angle
• 200g round beans, trimmed and left whole
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, 
• 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 70g fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 red chilli, finely diced
• 1 small bunch of fresh coriander leaves
• 2 tspn toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tspn black onion seeds (or nigella seeds)
• Salt and pepper to season

Dressing:

• Juice of one lemon
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbspn good olive oil

METHOD:

• Blanch the asparagus and beans separately in boiling water (asparagus for 2-4 minutes so still al dente, and beans for approx. 5 minutes), once removed place into a bowl of ice cold water
• Add the frozen peas to the boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes, remove and drain
• Drain the asparagus and beans and combine with the peas, spring onion, chilli, spinach and the coriander leaves
• Combine the dressing ingredients and serve over the salad
• Sprinkle the onion seeds and toasted sesame seeds on top