These are two of my favourite salad recipes at the moment, served for our Club Quilt day on the weekend. Sorry, not helpful for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, but just right for those of us heading into summer & mango season! 

MANGO & AVOCADO SALAD WITH DILL DRESSING

Fresh mangoes, sliced ripe avocadoes, sliced mignonette lettuce, pecans 

Dill dressing: 150ml carton sour cream 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup French dressing 1 tablespoon chopped chives 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill 

Arrange lettuce, mango & avocado on a large platter. To make dressing just whisk all ingredients together. Pour dressing over salad & top with pecans. I add prawns sauted in some garlic to this salad for Christmas lunch – YUM! You can use pine nuts instead of pecans. Add a bit of red onion if you like – just make it up really. The dressing is what makes it, & the mango of course!

ROASTED SWEET POTATO SALAD

Mixed lettuce leaves, sweet potato, peeled & thinly sliced cucumber pine nuts, toasted cherry or roma tomatoes, halved avocado

Basil dressing: basil leaves, 1 cup, loosely packed, 2 cloves garlic, crushed, 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup light sour cream

Preheat oven to 180°C. In a bowl, place sweet potato. Drizzle with olive oil & toss gently. Transfer sweet potato & tomatoes to a paper-lined baking tray. Season with salt & pepper & bake until sweet potato is cooked & tomatoes have semi-dried. Cool.

Arrange on plate with avocado & cucumber. Sprinkle with pine nuts. For dressing, combine basil, garlic, pine nuts & parmesan in a food processor. Process until smooth. Add mayonnaise & sour cream. Process until smooth. Dress salad just before serving. Sprinkle with pine nuts. (This dressing is also really good on a potato salad). You can substitute pumpkin for the sweet potato.