sautéed cos salad with an avocado dressing

Have you ever tried cooked lettuce?  The first time I saw a recipe for grilled lettuce I rolled my eyes and thought to myself ‘that is just nuts…what on earth would you want to go and cook lettuce for?’ Then a few more such recipes came onto my radar and I started to become intrigued with the idea of cooking an ingredient that I had only ever eaten raw.  What is that saying ‘don’t dis something until you try it’.  Well that totally applies to grilled/cooked lettuce, I eat my words! and urge you to try it if you haven’t already.

This salad was a cinch to throw together given that I had pre-cooked chicken and sweet potato on hand and even though it only has a few ingredients it really packs a flavour punch! 

 
Sautéed cos salad with an avocado dressing – serves 1 but easily doubled/tripled
Inspired by I am a food blog and the year in food

Ingredients: (salad)
1 small cos lettuce – halved
1 tsp ghee/coconut oil
100g cooked chicken – diced
small serve roasted sweet potato

Ingredients: (dressing)
1 avocado
handful each of basil and parsley
I small clove garlic
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup mild tasting olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Method:
If you need to cook your chicken and sweet potato start with that first.  Sauté both in separate pans using a little ghee or coconut oil until cooked then place on a plate. 
Place the dressing ingredients into a blender/processor and blitz till smooth and creamy.  This makes a little over a cup worth of dressing but keeps well in a jar in the fridge for a few days.
Heat ghee over medium heat in a pan and add the halved cos cut side down.  Allow to cook a few minutes until the edges are starting to brown then flip over and cook the other side.
Place cos onto a plate, top with the chicken and sweet potato then drizzle with the avocado dressing before seasoning well.

Notes:
- I kept things very simple with this salad wanting each ingredient to play a key role
- adapt the ingredients to suit your tastes and what you have available to you
- bacon or prosciutto would be a lovely addition as would a decent sprinkle of grated parmesan
- grilled haloumi or baked diced eggplant would be equally wonderful for a vegetarian salad