I love making ‘tacos’ from lettuce leaves as an alternative to a regular bowl of salad and the scoop-shaped leaves of Little Gem and Romaine lettuce are ideal to do this with.

This recipe has an interesting combination of flavours and textures with mild-tasting crisp, crunchy lettuce, soft creamy avocado, sweet and spicy peppers, a fresh tang from the lime, plus a crispy topping of freshly sprouted seeds and a gentle herbal undertone from the mint and parsley etc.

The salsa can be made a day or so before you need to use it (sored in the fridge) and is easily transportable in a screw top jar if you want to take this dish to work for lunch or on a picnic.

INGREDIENTS:

2 heads of little gem lettuce

2 ripe avocado

2 limes

2 spring onions

1 red bell pepper

1 fresh red chilli pepper

Large handful of sprouted seeds (I used mooli/radish sprouts)

Small handful of fresh herbs (parsley, mint, chives, dill)

Rose petals to scatter over, if you fancy!

METHOD:

Gently separate the lettuce leaves then wash and dry them in a salad spinner or with kitchen paper. Wash and dry the herbs in the same way.

To make the salsa; juice and zest the lime and pour the lime juice into a bowl. Peel and chop the avocado into small dice and toss in the lime juice to prevent it discolouring. De-seed the bell pepper and chilli pepper and cut both into small dice, cut the chilli pepper finer if you prefer. Finely slice the spring onion and chop the herbs then mix all the ingredients together, seasoning with a little salt and pepper. If your avocado is really ripe then mush it with the other ingredients to make a kind of guacamole, it’ll still taste delicious!

When you are ready to serve fill each lettuce leaf with a spoonful of the salsa and sprinkle over a few sprouted seeds. Arrange on a platter with some extra wedges of lemon to squeeze over and scatter over a few fragrant rose petals as a garnish (if you fancy!) for a Summery look..

Recipe by Amber – Raw Vegan Blonde 

@rawveganblonde