Tuesday, May 17, 2011

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.

12 comments:

Helen said...

Oh my goodness, I love asparagus! I shall have to try this!

Pam said...

It would also be a real interesting visual to use both the green and white asparagus. Great recipe, thanks!

The Alchemist said...

Helen- Great, I hope you like it!

Pam- Brilliant! White asparagus would be beautiful, I never think of white asparagus, but I will now!

Thanks for the great idea!

Alice said...

I had all the ingredients on hand and made this the day after I received it. This salad was fantastic! I was afraid I didn't have enough juice from the one lemon I had, so I added a little white balsamic/pear vinegar. Thanks for a refreshing side dish that would go with any meal!

The Alchemist said...

Alice- Thank you so much for sharing your experience, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful idea. I've had bad experiences with raw asparagus, but this recipe makes sense to me. Shaving it finely, the vinegarette, the parmesan, it all sounds divine. Thanks for sharing.

Tina @ MOMS CRAZY COOKING said...

WOW, I'll be trying this soon!

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS linky party is Summer Salads and this recipe would be perfect, we hope you stop by and link it up! Thanks a million!

http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/2011/05/this-weeks-cravings-30-summer-salads.html

Chiara said...

This salad recipe is screaming "SUMMER BBQ"! I can't wait to try this. I love raw asparagus, but I have never shaved it into a salad. I shared this recipe on my Friday Favorites at Calico and Cupcakes today. I know my readers will want to try this deliciousness too! Have a great weekend!

The Alchemist said...

Chiara- Thank you so much! And I wish you a wonderful weekend as well.

annies home said...

never really thought about asparagus being shaved but this does look awesome come visit me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

The Sweet Details said...

Yum! This looks great! Thanks for linking up to Savory Sunday!!

The Outlaw Mom said...

Ooh, how delicious! I always run out of ideas for ways to dress my asparagus. This looks lovely - thanks for sharing :-)