Cabbage, Broad Bean and Fennel Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

I promised you the dressing and now i'm dressing down and delivering you the dressing. 

Wearing a dressing gown. 

Maybe. 

I snapped broad beans for the first time this weekend. As thrilling as it sounds, podding beans turned out to be a chat stimulant, it kind of felt like we were old school Victorian maids sitting and gossiping in a scoured clean scullery, podding beans for the master's supper or something. 

Even though we were sitting on the couch drinking a particularly fresh lychee and mint white wine sangria with scruffy hair and painted nails with the football grand final in the background.

A kilo of broad beans turns out to be about 200g of shelled beans once you have done podding and shelling them. They look so naked once you have plucked them from their cosy, furry beds and popped them out of their shells, revealing their luminous green hearts. If I had such a cosy bed I wouldn't be happy either.

Green Goddess Dressing. Such a glamorous title for such a simple combination. Handfuls of the freshest green herbs you can find, yoghurt, mayo and lemon juice. Could there be a better salad to welcome the first taste of spring? 

Doubt it.

Cabbage, Broad Bean and Fennel Salad with Green Goddess Dressing:

dressing adapted from a Bill Granger recipe

serves approximately 7 people as a side

half a head of purple cabbage, very thinly shredded (preferably on a mandolin)

half a head of white cabbage, very thinly shredded

1/4 head of fennel, very thinly shredded, almost paper thin.

1kg broad beans (ends up being about 200g once shelled)

dressing

large handful of watercress sprigs
100g natural yoghurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
large handful of mixed herbs (such as dill, basil, mint and parsley, chives)
2 spring onions, chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Combine shredded cabbages and fennel in a large salad bowl. Pod the broad beans and boil in a pot of salted water for one minute, drain and refresh in a bowl of iced water. Remove the outer shell of the broad beans by pinching the bottom of the bean and popping out the inner bean. Drain and toss with salad. 

For the dressing, place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Pour over salad and toss to coat. 

Dressing will last approx. 1 week in a jar in the fridge.