Lettuce eat cake: Alice Zaslavsky’s iceberg head with retro dressing, plus two more spring salad recipes

Mimosa lettuce with retro dressing

(Pictured above)

You may have grown up with this dressing, or you might be looking at it and thinking, “WHAT!?” Either way, welcome, because it’s time for a retro revival. The condensed milk combined with hot English mustard is piquancy at its peak – sweet but not sickly (trust me) and sharp enough to make every mouthful sing. I love the way the eggy mimosa dances on the top of the lettuce here and, because it’s oil-free, it’s the kind of dressed iceberg salad you can plonk in the middle of the table (to oohs and ahhs) and happily eat for a few hours over a long lunch. You’ll need to start this recipe ahead of time to chill the iceberg.

Serves 4 to 6

1 iceberg lettuce, soaked in icy water

For the condensed milk dressing
395g tin sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp hot English mustard (or 2 if you dare)
185ml white wine vinegar (¾ cup)
2 tsp salt flakes
½ tsp ground white pepper

Final bits and bobs
4 eggs, hardboiled and peeled
½ cup finely sliced chives

Related: Full steam ahead: Alice Zaslavsky’s chicken drumsticks with spring onion oil and cucumber salad

To make the condensed milk dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.

Drain the lettuce, remove any mangy outer leaves, trim the base of the core so it’s flat, and put the whole head in a salad spinner. Give it a few bursts in the spinner to dry as much as possible, and dry well on a clean tea towel, then transfer to the fridge to keep chilled until ready to get the party started.

To serve, use a sharp knife to slice the lettuce into four thick horizontal slabs, keeping the lettuce’s structural integrity as secure as possible. You’ll essentially be rebuilding the lettuce, drizzling the dressing generously in between like mortar. Place the base of the lettuce on a round platter and drizzle with a generous amount of the dressing. Using a microplane, grate an egg over and sprinkle with some chives. Top with the next slice of lettuce and add dressing, egg and chives as before. Continue these layers until the top is popped back into place. Finally, grate the last egg over the top for the crown and sprinkle with the remaining chives. Slice into wedges to serve at the table.

Asparagus and radish salad with caper vinaigrette

This is a salad that welcomes seasonal replacements: if asparagus isn’t around, you can substitute blanched green beans or broccolini bits; flip frisée into any green leaf to hand. Breakfast radishes are the long ones. If you can’t find them, use the regular squat ones. The blue cheese should stay – it’s the umami punch – and it’s up to you whether that punch is a roquefort right-hander or a blue Castello left hook. Either way, it’s a knockout.

Serves 4 to 6

250g asparagus spears
1 bunch breakfast radishes, about 250g
1 small frisée lettuce (endive), soaked in cold water
80g blue cheese (such as roquefort or blue Castello – whatever floats your boat)

For the caper vinaigrette
1 golden shallot, finely diced (about 1 heaped tbsp)
60ml extra-virgin olive oil (¼ cup)
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 heaped tsp seeded mustard
1 tbsp finely chopped tarragon leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley leaves
1 tbsp capers, rinsed, drained and finely chopped
½ tsp salt flakes
¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper

Put a saucepan of well-salted water on the stove to boil, then snap off the asparagus ends then cut or snap the spears into 2cm batons on the diagonal. Drop them into the boiling water to cook for two minutes or until lurid green and tender. Drain and plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process.

Finely slice the radishes vertically on a mandoline and drop in a little bowl of cold water until they snap to attention. Drain the lettuce and radish, then spin-dry in a salad spinner and lay on paper towel.

To make the vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together with a fork. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

Assemble the salad on a large serving plate, starting with the lettuce and radish, then add the asparagus and blobs of blue cheese (use a teaspoon to crack into it). Drizzle with the caper vinaigrette at the table.

Strawberry and rocket salad with peppery parmesan

Strawberry sweetness against the pepperiness of rocket and black pepper is a combination that deserves a comeback. Strawberry behaves like tomato here – indeed, most tomato salads could have a red berry replacement. To max out on sweetness, pick the most aromatic strawbs, then cap your maceration time at 15 minutes.

White salad onion (often sold with a green shoot springing out of its top) is nice and mild if you can find it, but red onion would be a suitable subtitute. You could do the parmesan lace as crackers if you’re travelling with the salad – just sprinkle little mounds with a bit of space between, and keep in an airtight container (in the cupboard, not the fridge!) until go-time.

Related: Dinner, all wrapped up: Alice Zaslavsky’s recipe for fishfinger tacos

Serves 4-6

100g baby rocket
¼ cup basil leaves, loosely packed
500g strawberries, hulled and halved
½ tsp caster sugar
½ tsp salt flakes

For the peppery parmesan lace
50g parmesan cheese, finely grated
¼ tsp coarsely cracked black pepper

For the polka-dot dressing
60ml extra-virgin olive oil (¼ cup)
1 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar

Final bits and bobs
125g bocconcini, drained
½ salad onion, finely sliced into half-circles

Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Put the rocket and basil leaves in a bowl or salad spinner and cover with cold water. Pop the prepared strawberries in another bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, salt flakes and a grind of pepper. Leave to macerate for 15 minutes.

To make the peppery parmesan lace, use the tips of your fingers to sprinkle a layer of parmesan on the prepared baking tray and crack the pepper over from a height. If you prefer to be precise, ask someone to crack the pepper into your palm and then measure. Bake for four to five minutes until the cheese has melted and turned into a golden parmesan sheet. Pull out of the oven and leave to cool on the tray.

To make the polka-dot dressing, pour the olive oil into a small bowl or saucer, then add balsamic to the bowl. Swirl the two together until a polka-dot pattern emerges.

To assemble the salad, drain and spin the rocket and basil leaves, then gently toss together with the macerated strawberries. Transfer on to a large platter and arrange the bocconcini and salad onion slices. Pour dressing over the top of the salad. Arrange the parmesan lace over the top like Eliza Doolittle’s glow-up hat in My Fair Lady. Serve at once.

• This is an edited extract from Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Rochelle Eagle. Available now through Murdoch Books (AU$45)