A tasty tumble salad with plenty of greens, and extra garlic too
A zippy avocado tahini brings all the ingredients together, with an extra kick of as much garlic as you like and pepitas to finish.
Green on green on green is good. Grapes’ tart sweetness with the bitter earthiness of the silverbeet is all brought together with a creamy, zippy avocado tahini (which is totally a tahini guac). It’s very #health without feeling like you’re going without. You’re only using the silverbeet leaves here, so chop the stalks to sweat with onion for any kind of stew or soup, anywhere you’d use celery. If you can’t be bothered slicing with precision, cut the brocc into chunks and pulse in a food processor. Add as much garlic as you want – I like mine garlicky, obvs.
Silverbeet & broccoli tumble with herby avocado dressing
INGREDIENTS
- 1 broccoli head
- 1 small fennel bulb, about 200g (7oz), fronds reserved for garnish
- ½ bunch silverbeet (Swiss chard), leaves only
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 300g (10½oz) green grapes, halved
HERBY AVOCADO DRESSING
- 2 spring onions (scallions), green parts only, white parts finely sliced and reserved
- ½ cup coarsely chopped dill
- ½ cup coarsely chopped parsley leaves
- ¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 ripe avocado (a creamier variety like Hass)
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon salt flakes
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
FINAL BITS & BOBS
- 2 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
METHOD
- Boil 2 cups (500ml) of water. Trim and peel the broccoli stem, then slice it thinly along with the florets, following the shape of the broccoli. Do the same with the fennel bulb.
- Pop both into a heatproof colander and pour the boiling water over the top. Roll the silverbeet leaves up and thinly shred with your sharp knife. Rub the leaves with the olive oil and a pinch of salt flakes to macerate.
- To make the dressing, blitz all of the herby avocado dressing ingredients in a food processor to a thin paste. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Toss the drained veg, rubbed silverbeet and the grapes together in a serving dish, then drizzle generously with the dressing (feel free to leave any leftovers in a jug on the table) and finish with a sprinkle of pepitas, reserved spring onion whites and fennel fronds.
This is an edited extract from Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Rochelle Eagle. Murdoch Books RRP $45.00
