Bountiful Summer Sausage Salad with Herbed Avocado Dressing

This recipe is part of the

Vital Farms x Applegate Summer Series

This giant salad platter is the definition of Italian “abbondanza”—delicious abundance. Let everyone serve themselves, mixing and matching to make their perfect plate.

Serves: 6

Takes less than 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped
  • ¾–1 cup water
  • ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs, such as basil, parsley, dill, cilantro and chives
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4–6 Vital Farms eggs
  • 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
  • 1 (TK-ounce) package Applegate Organics Spinach-Feta Chicken Dinner Sausages
  • 1 head Boston or Bibb lettuce
  • 8 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed
  • 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Instructions

TO MAKE THE DRESSING:

Combine the avocado, ¾ cup water, ¼ cup olive oil, lemon juice and herbs in a blender. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Blend until very smooth, adding more water if needed to thin the dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Set aside.

HARD BOIL THE EGGS:

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the eggs, reduce the heat and simmer for 11 minutes (less if you like a softer set yolk). Drain and run cold water over the eggs until they are cool to the touch. Peel the eggs and cut in half.

FOR THE GRILL:

Toss the asparagus with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Grill the asparagus until bright green and crisp tender, about 8 minutes. At the same time, grill the sausages according to package instructions. Slice the grilled sausages into rounds.

FOR THE SALAD:

Separate the lettuce into individual leaves and arrange over a large platter. Arrange the grilled sausages, asparagus, hard-boiled eggs, sugar snap peas, radishes and cherry tomatoes over the lettuce and serve with the dressing on the side so people can dress it themselves.