Gourmet Caesar Salad with Avocado
One of the things I love about Spring is that you feel like eating lighter….enter crisp, fresh Spring salads, and of course avocados! This gourmet Avocado and Bacon Caesar salad is incredibly tasty, with amazing flavours and textures. Plus, it’s an easy recipe, perfect for a casual lunch or dinner.
Ingredients
Caesar salad
- 1 1⁄2 cups fresh or frozen broad beans
- 3 eggs
- 6 streaky bacon rashers
- 6 slices ciabatta bread slices 2cm-thick, gluten-free if required
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 baby cos lettuce
- 1 small red onion or 1⁄2 medium
- 1 firm ripe avocado
- 1⁄2 punnet cherry tomatoes
- 1⁄2 cup Parmesan cheese shavings
- 1⁄4 cup parsley roughly chopped
Caesar salad dressing (use 1⁄4 cup for this recipe)
- 1⁄2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1⁄4 parmesan cheese finely grated
- 1⁄4 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven grill to high.
- Place broad beans in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for 5-10 minutes.
- Place eggs in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a gentle boil then time for 6 minutes. Drain eggs and run under cold water (this stops them cooking any further).
- Lay strips of bacon on an oven tray, side by side. Grill until bacon is crispy, 6-8 minutes. Brush bread with olive oil and grill with bacon in the last 2 minutes.
- While the bacon is grilling, prepare the rest of the salad. Separate cos lettuce leaves, discarding the outer leaves, wash well and roughly chop. Thinly slice red onion; peel and slice avocado; halve cherry tomatoes. Shell broad beans by gently squeezing their dull grey skin until the bright green beans pops out.
- Shell hard-boiled eggs and quarter. Roughly chop crispy bacon.
- Combine all dressing ingredients together in small bowl.
- To serve, toss cos lettuce with tomatoes, broad beans, avocado, red onion, parsley and parmesan cheese and divide between plates. Top with crispy bacon and egg and dress with Caesar dressing. Serve with toasted ciabatta on the side.
Notes
The addition of avocado boosts the nutritional content of the salad and will help you feel fuller for longer. If you’re taking this salad to a BBQ, prepare the dressing in advance and dress the salad just before serving to ensure all the salad leaves remain bright and crunchy. For a vegetarian Caesar salad option, just remove the bacon and for gluten-free, serve without the ciabatta. For more spring and summer salad ideas using avocado, click here.