GREEN GODDESS SALAD

Now it is "summer" I am trying to cook more barbecues and protein based meals as it is good for the bikini body!!

This is a salad I ripped out from Olive magazine, it is called the "Green Goddess" salad after the green herb dressing which was very popular in the US in the 1970s - apparently is now having a comeback. We served it with some sausages however you could have it on it's own or with chicken or steak or fish or whatever you fancied. It took about 20 minutes to make and was really easy.

Ingredients for 2 people:

60g quinoa
100g peas
2 tbsp lemon juice
50g rocket leaves
An avocado, chopped
8 slices of smoked streaky bacon, chopped
80g feta, chopped into bite size pieces

Green Goddess Dressing:
2 spring onions, chopped including the green bits
Half a lemon, juiced
2 tbsp of mayonnaise
A small bunch of basil (about 8g), chopped
A small bunch of chives (about 8g), chopped
3 tbsp water

Cook the quinoa according to the packet's instructions - mine took 15 minutes in simmering water.

At the same time cook the peas in boiling water. Mine were frozen and took 4 minutes.

Grill the bacon according to the packet instructions, mine took about 10 minutes.

Our salad bowl has cracked :-( and so we had to improvise with a different style dish.

Once the quinoa is cooked, drain and rinse and then add to the bowl along with the peas, lemon juice and some seasoning. Top with the bacon and feta.

Then add the avocado and rocket.

Mix all together.

For the dressing just add the spring onions, lemon juice, mayonnaise, basil, chives and water into a food processor and whizz into a puree.

Then drizzle over the salad and tuck in.

This was really really good - so fresh and mouthwatering. My husband Pascal had typically turned his nose up at it once he saw it had quinoa in it but once he tasted it, he couldn't get over how delicious it was. If you don't like feta, you could use goat's cheese or mozzarella or even leave it out. The same goes for the bacon, if you are a vegetarian, you could go without. As I said at the beginning you can have the salad with something or on it's own - I think it would be a great summer lunch idea with some crusty french bread….and maybe some more cheese ;-)