It has been really hot recently, but I have still had some amazing produce in the garden. Lots of radishes, kohlrabi, pepper dews. I am knee deep in pickled pepper dews at the moment!
I have also had the most beautiful butter lettuces from the garden, which I love and consider such a treat so I wanted to hero them in a salad.
The result was a lovely light/fresh salad with an unusual dressing. I have been getting bored of the same old dressing of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a splash of tamari so I came up with something totally different. To start with you will need some cashew cream which is easy to make and you can keep the extra in the fridge.
Cashew Cream
130g of soaked cashews-I soak them overnight but if you cant then about 4 hours will do!
Juice of ½ lemon
½ tablespoon coconut oil
Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender with 50ml of water and blitz until completely smooth, scraping down the sides as you go. You have to be quite patient, but persevere as it does come smooth. Put it in a little container and refrigerate.
Butter lettuce salad Serves 4
1 large head of butter lettuce
1 kohlrabi –peeled and cut into ¼ inch match sticks
a small handful of fresh mint leaves
1 avocado-cubed (optional)
Dressing:
2 ½ tablespoons cashew cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground pepper
To make the dressing whisk together the cashew cream, olive oil, and honey. Add the lemon juice/vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk again. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste or a touch more vinegar of you prefer your dressing on the more acidic side.
Gently pull the lettuce leaves from the head, making sure they are dry. Toss the leaves, the kohlrabi, mint and avocado with the dressing and serve immediately.
