LETTUCE WEDGES WITH HERBY YOGHURT DRESSING

Here’s a simple, good looking lettuce salad to pull together at a moment’s notice. A quick assembly of ingredients that, hopefully, are on hand in your fridge.  You’ll make a tangy yoghurt dressing of vibrant green, coloured from a mix of fresh soft leaf herbs. If there’s only a single herb to use, that’ll work too. For a thicker, dollop-like dressing add an avocado to the blend. And if there’s time to dress it up a bit more, create a tasty, crumbly, topping to scatter over top.

 serves 8 for iceberg lettuce. serves 6 for cos lettuce

1 iceberg lettuce, or cos lettuce, washed and well drained

Dressing:

¾ cup Blue Bay goat yoghurt

1 spring garlic, bulb and green stem finely chopped (or 1 garlic clove, crushed)

½ cup loosely packed mix of soft leaf herbs (choose 2 or 3 from mint, coriander, dill parsley, tarragon, chervil or chives)

Finely grated zest of half a lemon

Juice of half a lemon

Pinch sea salt flakes

Black pepper

1 ripe avocado (optional), pit and skin removed

Crumble topping ideas (see cooking instructions below):

2 hard boiled eggs, grated

fried bacon bits

fried grated haloumi

or simply feta crumbled over the top!

For the dressing, use a small blender (a Nutri-bullet is good) or a hand-held blender. If using a hand-held blender add the yoghurt, herbs, lemon juice and zest, salt and a grinding of pepper into a deep bowl or jug, otherwise place the ingredients in the appropriate blender vessel.  Blitz the ingredients until a green smooth thin sauce forms. For a thicker dressing, add the avocado and blitz again until well combine and smooth.

To prepare the lettuce wedges, remove any unattractive outer leaves and keeping the core intact, trim the base to neaten, then cut the lettuce in half through the core. Cut each half into three or four wedges. The core will hold each wedge in shape. Transfer to a platter, cut sides facing up.

When ready to eat, spoon the dressing over the wedges and scatter over your choice of crumble, if using. Serve immediately.

Crumble toppings:

To hard boil the eggs, bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil and gently lower the eggs in with a spoon. Cook for 10 minutes at a boil. Immediately transfer eggs to a bowl of iced water to cool quickly (plus the shell is easily removed). When chilled, remove the shell. Using the larger holes on a box grater, grate the eggs over the dressed lettuce wedges

For crunchy bacon bits, cut 4 rashers of bacon into about 1cm dice. Heat a heavy based frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally until the fat renders (melts) and becomes crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, to drain. Sprinkle bacon over the dressed lettuce wedges

To make crispy haloumi. Using the larger holes on a box grater, coarsely grate the haloumi. Heat a heavy based frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the grated haloumi and stir frequently until the pieces become a light golden brown (not browned) crispy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside until ready to serve. Scatter over the dressed lettuce wedges.