Recipe and Photos by Amanda Callahan of Callywood Farms
This week, I’m bringing back an oldie but a goodie! It features Green Goddess dressing, which is the perfect accompaniment to so many spring dishes. Make a big batch and see where your inspiration takes you! My variation takes advantage of all the herbs popping up from the earth this time of year, and it’s exceptionally versatile. While you can always dress a salad with it, I love to slather it on chicken as a marinade, use it as a dip for a vegetable platter, and my youngest swears it makes a great morning toast topper!
Even if you don’t grow your own garden, spring is a great time to go out and harvest some foraged goodies! Just remember to grab only those plants you know have not been treated with pesticides or other nasties; avoid roadsides and public spaces, and choose things from your yard that you know have been spared from chemicals. I love to add some wild onions to my green goddess dressing — its characteristic bite definitely kicks it up a notch! I had some chives and cilantro in the garden, but I promise you a small handful of those wild onions is a great touch. In addition to wild onions, it’s the time of the year to add violets to your salad, too. They make an appearance on about every dinner this time of year — they’re edible, add color, and are so much fun to collect!
To create an exciting salad, you generally think of 4 main parts – the base, body, dressing, garnish. The base here is a mix of tender salad greens and chopped arugula to add flavor. The body consists of bright radishes and hard boiled eggs – a classic combo. If you’re thinking this will be the main dish, add some garbanzo beans to the mix too! We got the dressing covered already with our partly foraged green goddess dressing. Lastly, the garnish is where you get to have some fun! Sunflower shoots, pea tendrils, and microgreens are great elements to incorporate: think about color, texture, and flavor. I also added some beautiful sheep’s milk cheese to mine because we love it at my house.
Green Goddess Dressing
1 1/2 cups yogurt OR 1 cup buttermilk mixed with ½ cup mayo
~ 1 cup herbs – I used parsley, cilantro, chives
2-4 garlic cloves
2 teaspoon anchovy paste
Salt & Pepper
Blend it all up in a food processor until all herbs are uniformly chopped. Adjust seasonings, if needed. Pour into a jar and will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks (if it lasts that long)!
Spring Salad Ingredients
- Salad mix
- Arugula
- Radishes
- Hard boiled eggs
- Pea shoots
- Sunflower shoots
- Microgreens
- Cheese
I’m eagerly awaiting the crunch of fresh snow peas, snap peas and fresh young asparagus that is so good raw and added to a salad!
Spring Salad Recipe Roundup:
Pea Shoot Salad – https://umamigirl.com/pea-shoots-salad/
Dill, beet, chickepas (I’d love to serve this over salad greens!) – https://naturallyella.com/dill-beet-chickpea-salad/
Marinated Chickpea and Feta Salad – https://www.thekitchn.com/marinated-chickpea-feta-salad-spring-veggies-recipe-23019566
