What’s a better way to celebrate the season than with a a spring vegetable salad. The buttermilk poppy seed dressing is the perfect topper.
The Colors of Spring
I love a colorful, seasonal salad so I kind of went all out here. Arugula and watercress act as the spicy, leafy base. Then there’s three beautiful radishes bringing on the color here. We’ve got your standard red radish, the beautiful watermelon variety and these awesome purple ninjas. I also picked up some cute colorful baby carrots.
Then there’s the green parade. Sugar snap peas, English peas, fava beans and asparagus. I’ve definitely included way more components in this salad than I normally would, but hey this is just for inspiration. Feel free to pick up any of these ingredients you find, even if it’s only your top 3-4 favorites. Make this spring vegetable salad your own.
French onion dip fans?
So this was completely unintentional, but this buttermilk poppy seed dressing really ended up reminding me of French onion dip. But in a good way. I promise.
It starts off with finely cut shallot marinating in some lemon juice to chill out that sharp onion bite. Then, mix in some buttermilk, yogurt and poppy seeds and you’re there! It’s a really tasty salad dressing. Also a bit ranch-like you could say.
Seeing as this salad dressing has very little fat, I like to balance things out by tossing all the veggies (minus the greens) in a small amount of olive oil. I also add in a little salt and lemon zest to flavor this up. This is a really delicious, fun spring vegetable salad so I hope it gives you some new ideas to spice up those otherwise boring salad days. Bon appetit.
Spring Salad with Buttermilk Poppy Seed Dressing
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
What’s a better way to celebrate the season than with a Spring Salad. The Buttermilk Poppy Seed Dressing is the perfect topper.
Ingredients
Salad:
- 4 cups baby arugula
- 4 cups watercress
- 8 oz sugar snap peas
- 陆 cup freshly shucked English peas (陆 lb unshucked)
- 陆 cup freshly shucked fava beans (陆聽lb unshucked)
- 4–6 radishes of choice (I used standard, watermelon & purple ninja), sliced very thin
- 4–6 stalks of asparagus, tough bottom stem removed, peeled into strips
- 4–6 baby carrots, peeled into strips
- Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
- Lemon zest, to taste
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Dressing:
- 1 tsp finely chopped shallot
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 6 tbsp buttermilk
- 4 tbsp plain, full fat Greek yogurt
- 陆 tsp poppy seeds
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Blanch vegetables: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add cold water and a number of ice cubes to a large bowl to create an ice bath. Blanch snap peas for 30-60 seconds in boiling water, until crisp tender. Immediately transfer to ice water bath, using a slotted spoon. Boil peas and favas for 1 to 2 minutes per bath, until just tender. Transfer to ice water bath. When vegetables are cool, drain them and pat dry. Peel fava beans. Slice snap peas in half, as desired.
- Make dressing:聽Combine chopped shallot and lemon juice in a bowl, and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes to mellow out the onion flavor. Add buttermilk, yogurt, poppy seeds, salt and pepper, and whisk to combine.
- Dress vegetables:聽Combine peas, favas, radishes, asparagus and carrots in a bowl. Dress lightly with olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper.聽
- Serve salad: Combine greens with dressed vegetables in a serving bowl. Drizzle with buttermilk dressing. Enjoy.
Notes
Instead of arugula or watercress, you could use gem lettuce, baby romaine, frisee, bibb lettuce, or anything you prefer.聽
If you can’t find fresh English peas or fava beans, use more sugar snap peas instead. I would not use frozen peas.聽
I used a vegetable peeler to create the ribbons of carrots and asparagus. You could also grate the carrots, or blanch and chop the asparagus.
Use any combination of vegetables you prefer with the buttermilk dressing. You can use all sugar snap peas, or bibb lettuce with cucumbers, for example, to keep it more simple.聽
You can store the dressing in the fridge in an airtight container for several days.聽
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Blanch, whisk
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 录 of salad and dressing
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 315mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 13g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 6g
Love the colors. The buttermilk dressing is unique. I will try ir.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it 馃檪
Love it. Such a simple dressing but so good. Not just for this salad. For any salad. Super healthy too!
Thanks 馃檪