Mediterranean Spring Salad

By FamilySprouts

A Mediterranean-inspired salad chock full of vibrantly-colored vegetables and coated in a lemon basil dressing

Ingredients

• 8 asparagus spears—ends cut off and halved
• 10 green beans—halved
• 1 cup frozen fava (broad) beans
• 1 small carrot—peeled and sliced into thin rounds
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes—halved
• 1/2 yellow pepper (capsicum)—cut into thin strips
• 1/2 zucchini (courgette)—halved lengthwise and thinly sliced into half moons
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 clove garlic—minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Details

Adapted from mediterrasian.com

Preparation

Step 1

BRING a pot of water to the boil. ADD the asparagus, green beans and fava beans and cook for 3 minutes. REFRESH under cold water, drain, and place the asparagus and green beans in a salad bowl. PEEL the fava beans (by removing the leathery outer skins) and add to the same bowl with the carrot, cherry tomatoes, yellow pepper and zucchini. COMBINE the olive oil, lemon juice, basil, garlic, salt and pepper in a screw-top jar and shake well to combine. TOSS the salad ingredients gently with the dressing.

Variations: Add a handful of toasted pine nuts or walnuts. Add some crumbled feta cheese. You can also transform this salad into pasta primavera by tossing with hot pasta and topping with finely grated Parmesan cheese.