Name: Tasty two-step green salad recipe to make tonight
Yield: 4-6
Ingredients: 400g roasted or barbecued veg (see tip); 400g raw veg (see tip); 20–30g roasted nuts (I like almonds, macadamias and peanuts), roughly chopped; Dressing; ½ avocado; 2 tbsp lemon juice (from about 1 lemon); ¼ bunch of fresh coriander, leaves and stems roughly chopped; ¼ bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stems roughly chopped; 1 green chilli; 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped; ⅓ cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil

This simple green salad recipe by MasterChef winner Justin Narayan comes from his new book, Everything is Indian. With only two steps, it’s as easy as can be and it’s also super flexible – you can use any green vegetables you like so you can throw in your favourites. The recipe combines roast or barbecued veg, raw veg and the crunch of nuts. The dressing is a combo of avocado, lemon juice, coriander, parsley, green chilli, garlic and extra virgin olive oil all whizzed up in a blender. It’s super filling, hearty, interesting and inexpensive to make. What more could you want?

If you’re in the mood for a salad with vegies as the hero ingredients, check out this tasty heirloom tomato salad, pumpkin salad or classic Greek salad.

Ingredients

400g roasted or barbecued veg (see tip)

400g raw veg (see tip)

20–30g roasted nuts (I like almonds, macadamias and peanuts), roughly chopped

Dressing

½ avocado

2 tbsp lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)

¼ bunch of fresh coriander, leaves and stems roughly chopped

¼ bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stems roughly chopped

1 green chilli

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

⅓ cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil

Method

To make the dressing, blend all the dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth. (You want to get a thick creamy consistency. Add a little water if you need to thin the dressing.) Season with salt and pepper and set aside in the fridge.

Chop the roasted or barbecued veg into random bite-sized pieces. Cut the raw veg into whatever shape you like. (I do a rough chop if it’s something like a cucumber. If it’s like a long snow pea shape, I’ll finely slice or julienne.) Combine all the veg in a big bowl and dress it with the creamy, green dressing. Top with the nuts and eat.

For the roast veg, use zucchini and broccolini because you can get a good char on them. For raw, use snow peas and cucumber for texture. However, you can use any green vegetables in this (really any vegetable, it just won’t look as good).
Tip

_{This is an edited extract from Everything is Indian by Justin Narayan with photography by Rob Palmer, published by Murdoch Books, $39.99.}

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Recipe Justin Narayan

Justin Narayan’s Fijian-Indian heritage has shaped his passion for creating beautiful food and community around the table. While he grew up watching cooking shows on TV and admires Gaggan Anand and Gordon Ramsay, really it’s his mum, Sunita, who is hands down the best cook he knows. He learned from her and his grandparents from age 13, and mealtimes with his family are among his favourite memories. Justin won Australian MasterChef in 2021, a journey which helped hone his skills and knowledge along with his love of marrying Indian flavours to modern cooking methods. He is now making his food his career including cooking classes, takeaway tacos and upcoming restaurant ventures.

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