Four Star Salad

This salad is a meal in itself.

The stars in question here are avocado, French garlic sausage, mushroom and lettuce, with a lovely, garlicky, soured cream dressing.

The Delia Online Cookery School: Watch how to make a Basic Vinaigrette dressing Vinaigrette with Chopped Herbs for summer salads. Half Sherry Vinegar and Balsamic Vinegar, and a no-vinegar dressing which uses lemon juice instead. Click here to play

This recipe is from Delia's Complete Cookery Course. Serves 4

method
Ingredients

Method

Begin by combining the soured cream with the garlic, mayonnaise and mustard powder.

Then mix together the oil, vinegar and lemon juice and gradually add these to the soured cream mixture, tasting and seasoning with some salt and pepper. Now slice the garlic sausage into ½ in (1 cm) slices and then cut these slices into ½ in (1 cm) strips.

Next break up the lettuce leaves and arrange them in a salad bowl: wipe and thinly slice the mushrooms (don't take the skins off) and add these to the lettuce pieces. Finally prepare the avocados by removing the stones and peeling them, then cutting them into ½ in (1 cm) cubes. Add these to the lettuce and mushrooms with the strips of garlic sausage.

Mix it all together gently, then add the dressing and toss again very gently. Sprinkle the chopped spring onions all over the surface and serve straight away. This is nice served with home-made wholemeal bread.