Avocado, Broad Bean and Goat’s Cheese Salad
I have seen a few iterations of salad with these components – the thing I love about this version is the addition of both crumbled salty feta and torn milky fresh mozzarella to contrast the peppery watercress, fresh herbs and sweet peas and beans. The final touch is a sprinkling of chilli flakes and dukkah for heat and texture.
Serves 8
ingredients
2 cups broad beans
1 cup frozen peas
few sprigs mint
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon caster sugar
6 cups baby watercress or other salad greens
2 large avocados, sliced
350 grams buffalo mozzarella, torn into chunks
200 grams feta, crumbled
¾ cup fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons roughly chopped dill
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
3–4 tablespoons dukkah
poached eggs (see Cook's Note) and Turkish bread, to serve
Method
Bring a medium pot of water to boil and fill a bowl with cold water and a few ice cubes. Drop the broad beans into the water and cook just until the water comes back up to the boil. Take out the beans with a slotted spoon and put straight into the chilled water.
Drop the peas into the same boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and refresh under cold running water.
Gently pop the beans from their pods and add to the peas with a few sprigs of mint (remove before serving) and refrigerate both in a covered container.
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
To serve: Layer on to a platter; first, the watercress, then avocado, mozzarella, beans and peas, feta, mint leaves and dill. Drizzle with lemon dressing and sprinkle with chilli flakes and dukkah. Serve with poached eggs and Turkish bread.
Cook's note: To poach eggs in advance, heat a pot of at least 12cm-deep simmering water, adding ¼ cup of white vinegar. Poach super-fresh eggs, three at a time, for just 3–4 minutes. Drain and refresh in cold iced water as with the broad beans. Once cold, drain and store on a covered plate until ready to serve. To reheat, simply drop back into a pot of simmering water for a minute.
