If you’re experiencing the same mood swings of dear Mother Nature that we are suffering through these days, you… well you probably won’t be sitting in front of your screen, reading something about a potentially heat-generating activity like cooking. But if you do, I’ve got great news for you! This week’s dish is a really refreshing and light, yet surprisingly filling number that’s basically done in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. Perfect for high temperature- and resulting low energy levels~

The reason I’ve picked this salad for this year’s lineup for Summer Treasures is quite simple – the ongoing mood swings of Mother Nature I’ve already mentioned. See, usually, like last weeks’ goliath black cherries, blackcurrants have a very short but stable season of about 2-3 weeks over here. This year, however, the season was literally slaughtered, smashed and burned the day it started, courtesy of the hottest day (so far…) of the year with 43-45°C all over the country. Just before the scale plummeted down to the low 20°C’s for two weeks, I might add…
“The highest yield in years… and it all burned up right there on the bushes in one day.” our grim-faced green’s grocer announced, when I gave his berry display an almost desperate scan a couple of days later. What a terrible, terrible waste… for everyone involved.
Be that as it may – luckily, I had saved a handful from this year’s one and only tub of blackcurrants I was able to grab on our trip to the farmer’s market the week before, so I was able to whip up this little refreshment for you guys and really call it a “treasure” of this season~ I truly hope you guys didn’t get cheated out of these delicious little black gems like we did!

Here we go, a starter for 4 or a lunchy main-dish salad for 2:

The Zingy Avocado & Blackcurrant Salad
2 Heads of Baby Gem Lettuce, roughly chopped
1 Large, perfectly ripe Hass Avocado, halved, pitted and diced
1 Braeburn Apple, peeled, cored and julienned
100g Blackcurrants, stemmed – hold the stem and gently tug it through a fork to easily pluck them off the stem in the blink of an eye
1 Bunch of Watercress
Alt; 1 Tub of Garden Cress or 1 Bunch of finely chopped Chives
8-10 Radishes, cleaned and thinly sliced
80g Goat’s or Sheepsmilk Yoghurt
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp White Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tsp Lemon Zest
1 Tsp Elderflower Syrup or Honey
1 Generous Pinch each of Salt and Pepper

1) Pop the leaves, avocado cubes, apple julienne, blackcurrants and radishes in a large salad bowl and drizzle the lot with the lemon juice.
2) If you’re prepping this in advance as a BBQ’y side – or as a side for next weeks *shhhhh* – cover the bowl up tightly with clingfilm and place it in the fridge, right next to the water- or garden cress and a sealed container holding…
3) The dressing, which is quickly conjured up by simply whisking together the yoghurt, olive oil, vinegar, elderflower syrup, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
4) Once you’re ready to dig in, give the dressing a quick taste-test and adjust the balance with a bit of lemon juice, salt and pepper if necessary.
5) Add the cress to your salad bowl, drizzle in the dressing and give everything a gentle turn-over just before plating up~

And that’s it! Pour yourself a glass of something ice cold, find some shade or an AC, grab your fork and…

…Enjoy~!

♥