This is my interpretation of Sophie’s go to salad this summer that’s been receiving the big thumbs-up. It makes the most of local seasonal greens with a vibrant herbaceous dressing.  Feel free to improvise with other summer offerings, like finely shaved raw zucchini or fennel, blanched baby broccoli and baby leeks. The goat’s curd adds a creamy coating over the vegetables and the scattering of Five Tales young shoots give a mild peppery flavour, whilst both being a pleasing visual element as well.

serves 4

Sea salt

250g green beans, stem ends trimmed

200g sugar snaps, stem ends trimmed

200g snow peas, stem ends trimmed

1 bunch baby spring onions, base ends and tops trimmed

1 cup microgreens

1/3 cup Main Ridge Dairy cashmere (goat’s curd)

finely grated zest of a lemon

dressing

½ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

¼ cup finely chopped mint

2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon

1 small garlic clove, crushed and finely chopped

½ cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus extra if needed

sea salt

black pepper

To blanch the vegetables, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil over a high heat. Have ready a large bowl of iced water (cold water with about a dozen ice cubes added). Add the beans to the boiling water, cover with lid and bring quickly back to the boil. Cook for 3 minutes, then working quickly transfer the beans using a slotted spoon to the iced water to halt the cooking process and cool down. Transfer the beans to a clean tea-towel and spread out, then pat dry. Place the beans in a large bowl. Repeat the blanching process three more times with the snow peas, sugar snaps and spring onions, cooking them for only 1-2 minutes. You’ll probably need to add more ice cubes to the bowl of water to keep it extra cold. Drain vegetables well, pat dry with the tea towel and add to the bowl with beans.

In a small bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Add a little extra lemon juice to taste, if you’d like extra tang. Season with a pinch of sea salt and grinding of pepper. Reserve 2 tablespoons of dressing.

When ready to serve, pour the dressing over the blanched vegetables and gently toss to coat well. Transfer to a serving dish. Scatter over the young shoots, then dollop the goat’s curd on top and grate over the lemon zest. Drizzle over the reserved dressing and serve immediately.

 Recipe by Fiona Hammond, January 2023