Shaved Asparagus Salad

 "One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."

 -- Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, from Pavarotti, My Own Story

This is a recipe I can be passionate about. 1. It's easy 2. it's unique 3. It's very tasty.

I had never eaten raw asparagus before. Then I read this recipe over at Epicurious. It promised me that the raw asparagus would transform into silky strips when shaved with a peeler. They were correct. I am in love with raw asparagus when prepared this way. The flavor is a little different when raw, but delicious nonetheless.


The Parmesan cheese is a fabulous balance, of creamy and salty with the earthiness of the asparagus and salad greens.

On a side note, I am working on being a better blogger. I cook and I cook often. I wish I had the talent of actually blogging about said cooking. I've had dinners with company lately, and even though I always promise myself I am going to create enough time to actually take a good picture of such food before guests arrive, it seldom happens.

This salad is the exception. I made it, rushed it to the table snapped 2 pictures of it, and got back to working on the rest of dinner. But I am happy I was able to do that much. Sadly, I can't say as much for the rest of dinner.

 

Shaved Asparagus Salad

adapted from this recipe

makes enough for 4 first course servings

Ingredients

1/2 lb. salad greens (about equal to the amount of asparagus) after you trim the asparagus it will be less than one lb.

1 lb.(454 mg.) large asparagus spears, trimmed and peeled

1/3 cup (a small handful) (sorry I didn't weigh it.) finely grated Parmesan plus a piece for shaving on top of the salads

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup (90 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper


Directions

Working with 1 asparagus spear at a time, use a vegetable peeler to shave spears into long, thin shavings. When you get to the tips they will snap off, no big deal, just add the shavings and the tips to a large bowl.

Combine grated Parmesan and lemon juice in a small bowl and slowly whisk in oil until well blended. Season vinaigrette generously with salt and pepper. Add salad greens to shaved asparagus and mix. Add  enough vinaigrette to lightly cover salad. Toss together. Arrange salad on individual serving plates. Use peeler to shave more Parmesan over salad.