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Spring Salad!

By:Nagi
11 Comments
Recipe v Dozer v

As the name suggests, Spring Salad is a seasonal salad filled with spring’s bounty of vegetables: Asparagus, snow peas, peas and cos lettuce (romaine), dotted with goats cheese for some creamy tang and a fresh lemon dressing. Elegant, pretty and refreshing!

Platter with Spring Salad - with asparagus, peas, snow peas, baby cos lettuce (romaine) and goats cheese

Welcome to Day 9 of the inaugural Holiday Salad Marathon, where I’m sharing 30 salads in a row through to Christmas Eve – just for something different to the usual sugar-loaded baking countdowns!!

And I actually have to share this one today, otherwise I’ll have to change the name to “Summer Salad” (today’s the last day of spring)!

Spring Salad

This is a wonderful, vibrantly green salad that makes the most of vegetables that are in season during spring, when they’re at their cheapest and best.

The whole point of this Salad Marathon is to share ideas for something more interesting than a dreary iceberg lettuce with tomato and cucumber routine, and this salad ticks that box!

A combination of cooked and raw ingredients, this salad is made with blanched asparagus, snow peas and peas which are then piled onto baby cos lettuce (aka romaine) leaves, dotted with soft goats cheese and drizzled with a lemon dressing.

“Seasonal” is often no more than a token word in the food world, but this salad’s as truly seasonal as it gets!

Drizzling lemon dressing over Spring Salad - with asparagus, peas, snow peas, baby cos lettuce (romaine) and goats cheese

What goes in Spring Salad

Here’s a visual of what you need (which I realise I just listed above… this is just in case you glossed over the words!!😂)

Ingredients in Spring Salad - with asparagus, peas, snow peas, baby cos lettuce (romaine) and goats cheese

The vegetables are all conveniently blanched in the same pot to simplify the recipe. I just add them in the order it takes for them to cook until “tender crisp”, meaning they are just cooked: Not raw but still a bit crisp, rather than boiled to death, soggy and sad.

Blanched peas, asparagus and snow peas for Spring Salad

As for the baby cos lettuce (aka romaine), the smaller leaves can be used whole. For the larger outer leaves, I like to cut it down the middle, like so:

Baby Cos Lettuce / romaine for Spring Salad
Serving Spring Salad - with asparagus, peas, snow peas, baby cos lettuce (romaine) and goats cheese

There’s nothing this salad won’t pair with (Asian food aside, really). Alongside a quick Honey Garlic Chicken Breast, or BBQ Smothered Beef Brisket. A classic piece of seared fish or Crispy Skin Salmon (perhaps with a Lemon Butter Sauce), a big steaming bowl of Creamy Chicken Pasta or as a side to a summer Marinated Vegetable Pasta Salad.

Classic, seasonal, vibrantly green and elegant. I think you’ll enjoy this one! – Nagi x

What is the Holiday Salad Marathon?

This is my inaugural Christmas recipe countdown where I am sharing 30 salad recipes in a row until Christmas Eve – something completely different to people’s usual baking countdowns!

These salads are in addition to my regular 3 new recipes a week. Because aren’t you bored of the usual tomato-cucumber-lettuce garden salad routine??

Click here to see all the Holiday Salad Marathon recipes to date, or sign up for instant updates and you’ll receive a free email alert whenever I publish a new salad! 🙂

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Spring Salad with Goats Cheese

Author: Nagi
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 5 mins
Side Salad
Western
4.75 from 4 votes
Servings4 – 6 people as a side
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A wonderful way to use seasonal spring vegetables to make an elegant salad that goes with just about everything! This salad combines asparagus, snow peas, peas, cos (romaine). We then add goats cheese for creamy and tangy pops to take it up another notch. You could easily substitute with feta (preferably soft Danish Feta) or if you prefer milder cheese, dollops of fresh mozzarella, bocconcini or fresh ricotta would work beautifully. Or leave the cheese out altogether if you're being truly virtuous!

Ingredients

Salad:

  • 3 bunches (24 spears) asparagus , woody ends snapped off (Note 1)
  • 120g / 4oz snow peas (about 16 large or 20 smaller ones), trimmed and string removed
  • 1 head baby gem or cos lettuce (aka romaine) washed (16 leaves, Note 2)
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen peas (Note 3)
  • 90g / 3oz goats cheese
  • 1 cup (loosely packed) fresh mint leaves, , roughly torn

Lemon Dressing:

  • 1 tsp lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
  • 2 tbsp (30ml) lemon juice
  • 6 tbsp (90ml) extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of water to the boil.
  • Add snow peas to pot, boil for 1 1/2 minutes.
  • Add the asparagus spears, boil for another 1 1/2 minutes.
  • Add frozen peas, and boil for another 30 seconds or until the water just returns to a simmer, and peas turn bright green.
  • Immediately drain, refresh vegetables under cold running water until cooled to stop cooking process.
  • Remove the asparagus and snow peas, blot with paper towels to dry. Leave peas in colander to drain, giving them a toss now and then to help them dry. (It's important to dry vegetables, otherwise it dilutes the dressing and it won't stick. You could use a salad spinner with care, o just let them naturally dry which is easier.)
  • Split the larger baby cos leaves down the middle, use the small ones whole.
  • Cut asparagus stems in half on a slight angle.
  • Shake Dressing ingredients in a jar.
  • Combine vegetables in a bowl, dress and toss.
  • Arrange salad on a platter (Note 5). Top with small chunks of goats cheese. Serve immediately!

Recipe Notes:

1. Asparagus ends are fibrous and stringy. Just grab 3 or 4 and snap the ends off – it will naturally break at the right point. (If your asparagus is a bit old and floppy, this won’t work so you have to cut)
2. Lettuce – Any crisp lettuce will really do here. Baby lettuce looks nice, the way the asparagus and snow peas nestle in them. But you could easily just chop normal size cos lettuce (romaine), even iceberg or other crisp lettuce types.
But really, any leafy greens will work a treat with these vegetables and the lemon dressing. Shredded cabbage, baby spinach, rocket/arugula, mixed greens, kale (shred and marinate it using this recipe).
3. Peas – You could be a real stickler and use fresh peas here. I used frozen – I totally buy into the whole snap-frozen = better quality than old “fresh” peas thing.
4. Goats cheese – feel free to sub with other cheese like feta (preferably Danish), fresh mozzarella (tear by hand), bocconcini, or even blue cheese if that’s your thing. (Certainly is mine!)
5. For arrangement, hold back half the peas. Arrange and and then scatter over the remaining peas. Otherwise they all fall to the bottom as you arrange! You want your salad pretty and showing all the vegetables!
6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 6.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 206cal (10%)Carbohydrates: 12g (4%)Protein: 7g (14%)Fat: 15g (23%)Saturated Fat: 4g (25%)Cholesterol: 7mg (2%)Sodium: 450mg (20%)Potassium: 332mg (9%)Fiber: 5g (21%)Sugar: 5g (6%)Vitamin A: 3834IU (77%)Vitamin C: 37mg (45%)Calcium: 64mg (6%)Iron: 3mg (17%)
Keywords: Asparagus salad, baby cos lettuce salad, gem lettuce salad, pea salad, snow peas recipe, Spring salad
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Life of Dozer

No interest in this recipe as I was photographing it! Now if it were a hunk of beef, he’d be heavy breathing all over it……

Dozer under shoot table

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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11 Comments

  1. Rebecca says

    One of the very best salads I’ve ever made! The dressing is to die for! I’m making it for the second time tonight. The change I’d suggest is to cut the asparagus before blanching. I’ll keep the ingredients separate until I plate the salad. I mixed it all up with the dressing and kept it in refrigerator. It still tasted great, but the peas were “bleached” by the lemon in the dressing. (BTW, I’ve found your recipes to be awesome.)

    Reply

    • Rebecca says

      Yes, you can cook the veggies ahead of time. Keep refrigerated and make the dressing the day of. I made a big salad including the dressing and kept the leftovers in refrigerator. The salad was still great the next day, but the dressing “bleached” the peas and lettuce was soggy. It was still delicious! Hope you enjoyed the salad as much as I did!!

      Reply

    • Rebecca says

      Yes, you can cook the veggies ahead of time. Keep refrigerated and make the dressing the day of. I made a big salad including the dressing and kept the leftovers in refrigerator. The salad was still great the next day, but the dressing “bleached” the peas and lettuce was soggy. It was still delicious! Hope you enjoyed the salad as much as I did!!

      Reply

  5. Heather says

    5 stars
    I made this salad last night as I had all the ingredients required.
    Oh my goodness…it was so good! It is fresh, bright and cool…and was the perfect accompaniment to some crumbed whiting I made on a hot summer night!
    This one is going in my ‘favourite’ recipe file!

    Reply

  6. Noelene says

    Hi Nagi. Planning my Christmas menu at the moment. Have to have soy and gluten free recipes. Just added this beautiful looking salad to our menu to go with lamb shawarma, crispy potatoes and honey mustard chicken. Still trying to decide on a sweet potato salad. You make life easy. Oh and flourless chocolate cake for dessert 🧁

    Reply
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