A simple lunch for one

An avocado salad. With balls.

Current pregnancy cravings are for anything sour and salty (this tends to be active most of the time, now I come to think of it) and I have a bit of an avocado fetish but....this will do you at any time, as long as you are not squeamish about anchovies!

Take a tin of anchovies, drain off the oil and then leave them for a few minutes to de-salt, either in water, milk or a mixture of two. While you... take a ripe avocado and hack it into pieces - I leave the size to your own aesthetics. Put them on a plate. This will be the plate you eat off; you can make it all look prettier later on. Now,  add a heaped tablespoon of any olives you like and a couple of tablespoons of some good quality plain cottage cheese. Remove the anchovies from their liquor, rinse them gently and gently tap the water off them and then roughly chop. Put them on the plate with the rest of the ingredients. Now, quickly whip up a scant tablespoon of dressing with a smidgeon of extra virgin oil (remember the avocado is quite oleaginous, so maybe you don't need so much) and a good few squeezes of lemon juice, to which you then add a few drops (taste for preference) of chilli sauce: Encona brand is always the one for me. Tip this over the salad and then mix the salad right there on your plate, forking it over gently. That's it. If you had some decent tomatoes knocking about, you could also add them, diced roughly.

Well, that was my lunch today: try it?

(photo joel washing at flickr - thank you)