Recipe: An “Easy-Peasy” Spring Salad With Parmesan Vinaigrette by Alice Zaslavsky

Alice Zaslavsky

Photo: Courtesy of Murdoch Books

A cornucopia of spring veg – broad beans, peas and sugar snap peas – are the stars in this simple salad by the award-winning cook.

Alice Zaslavsky wants to get more veg on our plates. It’s a mission she’s been on for several cookbooks now, including 2021’s In Praise of Veg and the just-released Salad for Days, both of which celebrate the power of produce and prove that veg-forward doesn’t need to equal yawns.

Like a bountiful salad, Salad for Days is spilling over with good stuff. It’s a guide to making salads with the seasons and using up the produce you already have in your kitchen, and also includes a very handy dressings index so you’ll never be at a loss for something to drizzle your salads with.

Mr veg himself, Yotam Ottolenghi, has labelled this book “stunning, fresh, luscious”, and this description also applies to this salad, which celebrates the bounty of spring.

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“Come springtime, a version of this makes its way to our table weekly,” writes Zaslavsky. “At that point in the season, when fresh peas and broad beans are bountiful, set aside some time to pod them yourself, or buy some prepodded. Equally, you could make this later in the season, towards cooler days, using frozen peas and broadies too. Smaller broadies early in the season don’t need double podding, otherwise, do put the time in for the second pod, lest you serve up blister skin (yuck, sorry).”

One of the keys to a triumphant salad situation is its dressing; the one Zaslavsky drizzles over this is a goodie to add to your repertoire both for its zing (thanks, dijon mustard, garlic and parmesan) and its versatility. “Give it a drizz over bitter leaves such as radicchio, or keep it as a little dipper for lightly steamed crudités,” writes Zaslavsky.

Alice Zaslavsky’s spring salad with parmesan vinaigrette

Serves 4–6
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes

Ingredients

200g broad beans, podded
100g peas (frozen or fresh)
100g snow peas, topped
100g sugar snap peas, topped
½ salad onion, finely sliced with the grain
100g snow pea sprouts
1 bunch watercress, about 100g, ends trimmed
¼ cup mint leaves, finely sliced
¼ cup parsley leaves, finely sliced
10g parmesan cheese, for puffing

PARMESAN VINAIGRETTE

2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1–2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
25g parmesan cheese, finely grated

Method

Fork together vinaigrette ingredients until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil and tumble the podded broad beans in, then bring back to the boil for 2–4 minutes, depending on their size, until no longer chalky through the middle. Scoop out into a bowl and reserve.

Drop the peas into the boiling water and cook for 4 minutes – whether they’re fresh or frozen. Pop the snow peas and sugar snaps into a heatproof colander in the sink and pour the boiled water and peas over the top for an easy blanch.

Once the broad beans are cool enough to handle, squeeze the flesh out of the skins by finding the crack and pushing towards it. Set aside.

Give the vinaigrette a quick zhuzh to reincorporate and toss the greens through, then combine with the salad onion, snow pea sprouts, watercress, mint and parsley leaves just before serving, warm or at room temperature. Grate a final puff of parmesan over and finish with cracked pepper.

This is an edited extract from Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky, RRP$45 out now through Murdoch Books.

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