Wonderful Seedless Lemon Baby Gem Salad With Green Goddess Dressing

Crisp lettuce, fresh herbs, and Wonderful® Seedless Lemons for the dressing’s bright edge.

Difficulty: Easy — The dressing blends in under five minutes. The salad is assembly.

Ingredients

Salad:

6 heads little gem lettuce (or 6 baby romaine hearts)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
½ bunch tarragon
½ bunch chives
1 bunch radishes, finely sliced
Wonderful Seedless Lemon wedges for garnish

Croutons:

2 slices rustic bread, torn into crouton-sized pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

Green Goddess Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 shallot, finely minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
3 anchovy fillets, minced (optional)
2 green onions, minced
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons dill, chopped
2 tablespoons chives, chopped
1 tablespoon tarragon, chopped
¼ cup Wonderful Seedless Lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 avocado, ripe
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For the salad: Wash and dry the lettuce. Halve the cherry tomatoes, and dress them with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Pick the tarragon from the stems and slice the chives into ½" diagonal slices.
To serve, place the lettuce on a plate, with all the leaves facing in the same direction.
Mix the herbs into the tomatoes and sprinkle over the salad with the radishes.
For the croutons: Toss the torn pieces of bread with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toast in the oven until golden brown.
For the dressing: Place all the ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. If the dressing is too thick, it can be thinned with a little water. Season to taste with additional lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Top the salad with the green goddess dressing, a lemon wedge, and the croutons.

Optional Tips

Use full-fat yogurt or a yogurt-mayo blend. Low-fat yogurt produces a thinner dressing with less richness. Full-fat yogurt or a combination of Greek yogurt and mayonnaise gives the dressing body without making it heavy. The avocado contributes additional creaminess regardless of which creamy base you use.
Add the lemon juice last in tasting. Blend the dressing first, taste it, then add lemon juice in small additions until the brightness is right. Lemon's impact in a blended dressing is harder to predict than in a vinaigrette, and a little goes further because the blending distributes it evenly.
Use the freshest herbs you can find. Green goddess dressing is a herb showcase. Wilted or yellowed herbs produce a dressing that tastes flat and slightly bitter. Fresh herbs, ideally purchased the day you make the dressing, produce a vivid, bright green color and a flavor that justifies the name.
Thin with water, not more oil. Adding oil to thin a blended dressing changes its flavor and makes it richer than necessary. Cold water thins the consistency without affecting the flavor balance.
Halve the baby gem heads rather than separating the leaves. Halved heads look more composed on the plate and the cup shape of each half holds the dressing. The presentation signals effort without requiring it.
Make the dressing up to three days ahead. The avocado in the dressing oxidizes slightly over time, which may cause the dressing to darken from bright green to a deeper, olive green. The flavor is unchanged. Press plastic wrap directly against the surface of the stored dressing to minimize oxidation.
Dress at the last minute. Baby gem lettuce wilts relatively quickly under the weight and acidity of the dressing. For entertaining, dress the plates individually at the table or immediately before serving rather than dressing the whole platter in advance.
The lemon garnish does work. A lemon wedge on the plate is not just visual. Guests who squeeze additional juice over the dressed salad add another layer of fresh citrus that lifts the dish further. Wedges from Wonderful Seedless Lemons are easy to squeeze cleanly without seeds landing on the plate.

Variations

Vegan Green Goddess Dressing. Replace the Greek yogurt with full-fat coconut yogurt or raw cashew cream (one-half cup of raw cashews blended with one-quarter cup of water until completely smooth). Omit the mayonnaise if using it in your base. The result is dairy-free and vegan with most of the creaminess intact.
Classic Anchovy Green Goddess. Add two or three oil-packed anchovy fillets to the blender with the other ingredients. The anchovy dissolves completely into the dressing and is not detectable as a distinct flavor. It simply adds savory depth and the kind of background umami that makes the dressing taste more complex without tasting fishy.
Green Goddess with Basil. Replace the tarragon with an equal quantity of fresh basil. The result is a more Italian-adjacent dressing with a sweeter, less anise-inflected herb character. Particularly good with tomatoes added to the salad.
Green Goddess Grain Bowl. Serve the dressing over a grain bowl rather than lettuce: one cup of cooked farro or quinoa as the base, topped with roasted chickpeas, sliced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and a generous pour of green goddess dressing. Add soft-boiled eggs for protein.
Cucumber Green Goddess Salad. Replace the baby gem lettuce with two English cucumbers thinly sliced on a mandoline. Toss with the dressing, scatter with chives and sesame seeds, and serve immediately. This is a simplified, vegetable-forward version of the viral TikTok green goddess salad format.

Wonderful Seedless Lemon Baby Gem Salad With Green Goddess Dressing

Overview

Ingredients

Instructions

Optional Tips

Variations

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