Little Gem Salad with Green Goddess Dressing
This recipe features a creative spin on classic green goddess dressing: we’ve added fresh cilantro along with chives and parsley and swapped out the traditional lemon juice for lime zest and juice. It all comes together easily in a blender. Then we drizzle the robust dressing over a spring-fresh salad of Little Gem lettuce, rainbow carrots, radishes and fava beans. Be sure to give the carrot ribbons a quick soak in ice water, which will help them to curl nicely.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1 cup (8 fl. oz./250 ml) mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup (4 oz./125 g) sour cream
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 anchovy fillets, minced
- 1 cup (1 1/3 oz./40 g) minced fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup (1/3 oz./10 g) minced fresh chives
- 1/4 cup (1/3 oz./10 g) minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tsp. lime zest
- 1/4 cup (2 fl. oz./60 ml) fresh lime juice
- 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
For the salad:
- 4 to 6 rainbow carrots, peeled and thinly shaved with a vegetable peeler
- 4 to 6 heads Little Gem lettuce (or more if very small), halved lengthwise
- 4 to 6 radishes (red, green or a combination), trimmed and thinly shaved on a mandoline
- 1 cup (7 oz./220 g) fava beans, blanched
- 3 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and thinly sliced
- Fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish
- Freshly ground pepper
Directions
To make the dressing, in a blender, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic, anchovies, cilantro, chives, parsley, lime zest and juice, olive oil, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Blend on high speed until well combined. Set aside.
To make the salad, put the carrots in a bowl of ice water and let stand until they start to curl, 10 to 15 minutes; drain and pat dry. Arrange the lettuce on a serving platter or divide among salad plates. Top with the carrots, radishes, fava beans and eggs. Drizzle with the dressing and garnish with the cilantro sprigs and a few grindings of black pepper. Serve immediately. Serves 4.
Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen