LOBSTER AND AVOCADO SALAD

For a light summer lunch that’s elegant and satisfying, this salad is just what you’re looking for. A silky combination of lobster, avocado, butter lettuce, and basil, with piquant hearts of palm and sweet red pepper for balance, this salad is a bright update of a recipe from the late great James Beard. The creamy lemon dressing, given extra body by whipping with an immersion blender, is the perfect complement.

Be sure to use just-ripe, firm and unblemished avocados. Don’t open and slice them until the rest of the ingredients are prepped and serve the salad immediately after making.

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE SALAD

• 2, 1 ½ to 2 lb. lobsters
• 2 to 3 heads of butter lettuce (I use hydroponically grown) large enough to fill a big salad bowl
• 4 green onions, root ends discarded
• 3 large, ripe, unblemished avocados (You’ll use two cubed, and one sliced into fans as the garnish)
• 1 14 oz. can hearts of palm
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves

FOR THE CREAMY LEMON DRESSING

• Juice from two large, fresh lemons
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated with a microplane
• 2 tsp good quality Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp fresh snipped chives
• 1 tsp coconut palm sugar
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 Tbsp water
• Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

PREPARE THE LOBSTER Heat a large pot of water to boiling. Add lobsters and boil for 12 minutes. Remove pot from heat, leaving lobsters in water, and let stand for five minutes. Drain lobsters and cool.

PREPARE THE SALAD While the lobsters cool, prep vegetables. Wash, core, and deseed pepper. Cut into small dice and set aside. Drain hearts of palm and slice into coins. Set aside. Slice green onions. Set aside. Wash and core lettuce, patting leaves dry.

REMOVE LOBSTER MEAT FROM SHELL Crack open lobsters and remove tail and claw meat from shell. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

MAKE CREAMY LEMON DRESSING In a bowl, combine lemon juice, grated garlic, Dijon mustard, snipped chives and coconut palm sugar. Whisk in olive oil until beginning to emulsify. Using an immersion blender, pulse and blend until well emulsified and slightly thickened. Stir in 1 Tbsp water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pulse again with immersion blender to finish.

PREP AVOCADO Peel, halve, and remove pits from avocados. Cut two of the avocados into cubes. Slice the remaining avocado into thin slices, dividing into three-slice fans.

ASSEMBLE SALAD Tear and pile lettuce leaves in a large bowl. Gently toss with basil, green onion, and cubed avocado. Dot with hearts of palm coins and diced red pepper. Top with bite sized pieces of lobster. Garnish with thinly sliced fans of the remaining avocado. Serve immediately with creamy lemon dressing.