Alice's wonderful world of vegetables

For health-conscious foodies, In Praise of Veg is the definitive kitchen companion to vegetables. Food literacy advocate and TV personality Alice Zaslavsky shares her warmth, humour and delicious recipes with The Weekly.

- Alice Zaslavsky

BLT salad with Avo-li

SERVES 4

Let’s call this one a ‘sandwich salad’, where the bread is, let’s face it, entirely optional. Although it may seem like the avocado – or even tomato – is the hero here, I think it’s the lettuce that brings it all together. Bacon is definitely an optional extra; the ‘B’ could just as easily become an ‘M’ for ‘marinated tempeh’, which you can fry in a pan until golden and crispy. This is going to sound like an audacious statement, but Avo-li may just usurp ‘green goddess’ as the go-to green salad dressing. Feel free to make a double batch of it and serve it as a dip for any manner of things – most likely just your fingers.

500g mixed tomatoes (I like a mix of heirloom and cherry), halved or quartered if large

1 spring onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

100g streaky bacon rashers

½ head lettuce (butter or cos/romaine work best), leaves separated, washed and dried

½ head frisée, leaves separated, washed and dried (optional)

½ avocado, sliced into wedges lemon wedges, to serve crusty bread, to serve (optional)

AVO-LI

½ cup (120g) mayonnaise (home-made, or whole-egg store-bought)

3 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley

1 garlic clove, grated or crushed

1 ripe avocado, skin and stone discarded

1 Preheat the oven to 240°C (220°C fan-forced). Line a baking tray with foil.

2 Toss the tomatoes, spring onion and vinegar together in a bowl and set aside to pickle slightly.