Butter Lettuce with Avocado, Grapefruit and Crispy Buckwheat

Fresh, creamy and crunchy in one bowl

This salad is all about contrast, without any one ingredient overpowering the others. Butter lettuce has soft, pliable leaves; grapefruit brings juicy acidity and a hint of bitterness, while ripe avocado rounds out the flavours. Buckwheat adds a toasted, nutty crunch. Tear the lettuce by hand into bite-sized pieces instead of finely cutting it: this keeps the leaves airy and helps them hold their shape alongside the heavier pieces of fruit and avocado.

Grapefruit is generally easy to find in winter and early spring, but this salad can be served any time of year. Choose a fruit that feels firm and heavy for its size. Use a sharp knife to remove the peel and white pith, then cut the segments from between the membranes. This gives you tender segments without tough edges. Catch any juice and stir a teaspoon of it into the dressing if you’d like to make it extra fruity; keep a little lemon juice back so the dressing doesn’t become too sharp.

Buckwheat is naturally gluten-free, but if you have a specific dietary requirement, check the packaging for possible cross-contamination. Use whole, uncooked buckwheat groats, not buckwheat flour or cooked buckwheat. Toast them in a dry frying pan over medium heat, shaking the pan regularly. They’re ready when they smell fragrant and some have started to colour. Let them cool before sprinkling them over the salad; this keeps them crunchy. Remove them from the pan as soon as they’re toasted, since they can continue to brown in a hot pan.

The dressing is simple: yoghurt provides a soft, creamy base, while lemon and olive oil make it fresh and light. Chives add a mild onion flavour that doesn’t overpower the grapefruit. Use full-fat or low-fat plain yoghurt, without sweeteners. If the dressing is too thick to spread easily over the leaves, stir in a teaspoon of water at a time. Taste for salt and pepper before tossing the salad.

Make the dressing and toast the buckwheat ahead of time, but cut the avocado and assemble the salad just before eating. This helps keep the avocado from discolouring and the lettuce fresh and crisp. Serve the salad alongside pan-fried fish, chicken or a savoury vegetable tart; it also makes a light lunch on its own, perhaps with bread. Add the buckwheat last so the groats don’t soften in the dressing.