Where I can, I try and eat with the seasons. This week I was excited to see the start of the asparagus season. Our local shop had bunches of aspargus piled high ... I could not resist a Raw Asparagus Salad.
When I first tasted this salad, with my wonderful friends Emma and Jono, I was intrigued by the idea of raw asparagus, it was not something I had tried before ... one taste and I was hooked.
It is wonderfully crunchy, very fresh and the perfect side for a slightly cooled roast chicken on a warm day ... or in my case a day when I need to taste a little summer after all this rain!
RAW ASPARAGUS SALAD - Serves 2 (as a side)
Ingredients
8-10 pieces of Asparagus, 50g Parmesan, 1 Lemon, Runny Honey, Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper
- Remove the woody bit at the bottom of the asparagus
- Using a potato peeler gently peel the outside of the asparagus. Start peeling about 4cm down the asparagus and peel to the end of the stalk, you do not peel the head as you want this piece to look pretty in the salad.
- You are now going to cut the asparagus into thin batons similar in shape and size to a match stick.
- Cut each of the asparagus in half lengthways
- Cut the heads of each half of the asparagus (the top 3-4cm) and place in a bowl
- Slice the two halves of asparagus in half again lengthways so you are left with four thin strips of asparagus (if you have very thick asparagus you may need to cut each half into thirds)
- Cut these strips into 4cm lengths and place in bowl
- Repeat with the remaining asparagus
- Using your potato peeler shave the parmesan on top of the asparagus
- Make your dressing by placing the following in a bowl and mixing together: 1/2 teaspoon of honey, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- Season the dressing with salt and pepper and pour three quarters of the dressing over the salad, mix and taste, add the remaining dressing if required
Cooking notes
I tend to use 4-5 pieces of asparagus per person ... however this will depend on the size of your asparagus, if you are using very small asparagus you may need more and vice versa.
I do not like over dressed salads so tend to add dressing a little at a time.
Adapting
If you don’t have any parmesan to hand you could try this with another hard cheese, Comte would be good.
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