As we shake off the remnants of the chilly months, we can pack away the slow cookers and start preparing ourselves for the season of salads and BBQs.  With the temperature slowly creeping up, we start to crave meals of the cool and crunchy variety just like this iceberg salad with a punchy Zuni dressing. Incorporating a poached egg for protein and sourdough croutons for extra texture, we think this recipe hits all the right notes. This recipe serves one, but double quantities to share with a friend.

Ingredients

Zuni Dressing

• 40ml red wine vinegar
• 400ml olive oil
• 12 anchovy fillets
• Sea salt
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups parmesan
• Cracked black pepper
• One lemon

Iceberg Salad

• 60 mls of Zuni dressing (see Method)
• One small Iceberg lettuce
• Two slices of day old sourdough for croutons (see Method)
• One soft poached egg
• 10 g of shaved parmesan
• 10 mls extra virgin olive oil (we use ALTO, read more about them here)

Method

For the Zuni dressing

• Blend together 40ml red wine vinegar, 400ml olive oil, 12 anchovy fillets finely diced, a pinch of salt and four diced cloves of garlic.
• Add four cold, whole eggs, two cups of grated parmesan, lots of cracked, black pepper and blend to emulsify.
• Add the lemon juice and adjust to taste.

For the croutons

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees
• Take rough, three-centimetre pieces of sourdough and toss in a bowl with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and cracked black pepper.
• Place on a baking tray, spread evenly in one layer, and bake in the oven until evenly browned and nice and crunchy.

For the salad

• Soft poach one egg using your preferred method.
• Arrange half a washed iceberg lettuce in the centre of a shallow serving bowl
• Drizzle with Zuni dressing and sprinkle with croutons
• Place poached egg on top of the dressed lettuce, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with parmesan and serve immediately.

Enjoy!