Green Goddess Salad with pea shoot, asparagus and avocado

Not another "Green Goddess" Salad, this delicious summer dish is made with pea shoots, asparagus and avocado all brought together with a creamy lemon and herb dressing.

What is a Green Goddess Salad?

I first shared my version of the Green Goddess Salad way back in 2011. At the time it felt as though every blog had their own recipe and I didn't want to feel left out. What I didn't realise was that this would end up being one of the recipes I would make the most when I wanted something light, bright and healthy for my own lunch.

The term "Green Goddess" actually refers to the salad dressing rather than the whole dish. A Green Goddess salad dressing is usually made of mayonnaise, sour cream and a range of fresh hers like chives, tarragon and parsley. Since it's taken the internet by storm it's also been popular to add avocado to the dressing to give it a vivid green colour. But I prefer to scoop the avocado on to my salad rather than into the dressing.

Although you can use any selection of vegetables you'd like, my favourite combination is pea shoots, asparagus, avocado, cucumber and spring onions.

Jump to:

• What is a Green Goddess Salad?
• How to make a Green Goddess Salad
• Variations
• Top Tip
• FAQ
• The recipe
• Green Goddess Salad with pea shoots, asparagus and avocado
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How to make a Green Goddess Salad

Ingredients

The dressing for this salad is rich and creamy as well as packed full of aromatic herby flavours. It's made from:

• mayonnaise
• sour cream
• lemon juice
• fresh herbs including parsley, chives and tarragon
• salt and pepper

The salad is made from a mix of different green veggies including:

• pea shoots
• asparagus
• cucumber
• spring onions
• avocado

Parmesan is the final flourish that adds a salty hit.

Instructions

To make the dressing all you need to do is mix the ingredients until you have a smooth dressing that is slightly runny.

To make the salad you must cook the asparagus first.

But, once the asparagus is cooled you just simply assemble the ingredients, drizzle over the dressing and finish with the parmesan.

Variations

• Shake up the salad dressing
  • You can use any combination of herbs (coriander, mint, basil, parsley, dill, tarragon, chives or even chervil), dairy or dairy substitute (mayonnaise, yogurt, sour cream, crème fraîche), and acid (any citrus fruit will work well as will apple cider vinegar). So long as you have those 3 key components you've got yourself a delicious dressing.
• Use more leafy greens
  • I love pea shoots; they are so sweet and tender. But if you want more crunch to your salad then why not try iceberg lettuce next time? If you like a bitter, peppery hit to your salad then chicory or rocket would work well. Spinach and romaine are also classic leaves that will work with whatever vegetables you choose to use.
• Add more vegetable goodness
  • The Green Goddess salad dressing is so versatile you can add it to any combination of veggies you wish. I like to stick to green vegetables and often add celery, green pepper, artichoke and griddle courgette. Green olives or caper berries are also a great addition.
  • But you don't have to stick to green vegetables. Why not throw in a tomato or two?
• Add some protein
  • If you eat meat then grilled chicken or salmon work perfectly with this recipe. If you're vegetarian then why not try halloumi? For a plant based diet, you can use a chicken substitute or add chickpeas or other pulses to the salad (or why not both!)

FAQ

The recipe

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