Oh, summer lettuce! I love romaine for its crunch, arugula for its bitter little bite, and red leaf for its beauty. But the silky soft quality of butter lettuce is seductively satisfying. Seeing big, gorgeous heads of it at the market, I couldn’t resist getting them to compose this beautiful—and simple, summer salad.
To make it, you’ll just need to wash each leaf carefully to remove any grit, then hand tear the leaves into bite sized pieces. Over this, sprinkle a big handful of thinly sliced celery providing contrasting crunch, and top with sliced fresh strawberries for fruity tang, and avocado for even more silkiness. To finish, squeeze a little fresh lemon over all, and add a few fine grinds of black pepper which goes surprisingly well with strawberries.
For the dressing, I like little dollops of lemon cream made by whisking cream with lemon juice and zest, a squirt of Dijon mustard and a few grains of sugar.
Velvety Summer Salad (Butter Lettuce, Peppered Strawberry & Avocado with Lemon Cream)
Ingredients
- 1 large or two small heads butter lettuce
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 cup fresh strawberries
- 1 avocado
- Zest from 1 fresh lemon
- Juice from fresh lemon
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp sugar OR honey OR agave nectar (or a little more to taste)
- Pinch of salt
- Finely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Remove and discard base core from lettuce head. Separate leaves and carefully wash to remove any dirt or grit. Pat leaves dry. Tear into bite-sized pieces and place in a large salad bowl.
- Wash celery and discard tops and bottoms (or save for your next pot of soup!)
- Thinly slice celery and sprinkle over the lettuce.
- Wash strawberries, pat dry & remove green tops. Slice and scatter strawberries over the salad.
- Peel and remove pit from avocado. Thinly slice avocado and arrange over the salad.
- Squeeze a few drops of juice from half of the lemon over the salad. Add a pinch of salt and finely ground pepper
- Make dressing by whisking cream first with the Dijon and then with finely grated lemon zest and juice from ½ of the lemon. Whisk in sweetener of choice and a pinch of salt to taste.
- Dot several dollops of the lemon cream over the salad and serve cold.
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