Shaved asparagus salad

I love my veggies and asparagus is definitely amongst my favorites. One of the reasons I love it is because it makes for such a nice and easy side dish; all you need to do is mix it with some olive oil, pop it in the oven or the grill and top it off with some grated Parmesan. Boom, you’re done. Yesterday, I wanted to try something different though, and instead of baking/grilling it, I made a salad with raw, shaved asparagus, and let me tell you, it was a hit.

You know, I wouldn’t really consider myself very adventurous when it comes to cooking, but I do like to try something new and different once in a while and every single time that I do, I get the same response (usually from my either my brother or my husband): “ew… really?” This was exactly what my husband said when he walked in the kitchen yesterday and saw me “shave” raw asparagus. I got the usual “love you babe, but I’m not touching that.” 20 minutes later, the whole thing was gone.

We had this salad as a side dish with our dinner, but it can also make for an amazing lunch, especially when served with a poached egg on top.

Shaved asparagus salad

1.5 lb fresh asparagus
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shaved
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1 lemon, juiced
lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS peanut oil
1 tsp sherry cooking wine
pepper and salt to taste

1. After removing tough ends from them, “shave” your asparagus using a vegetable peeler. This will be much easier if you buy thicker asparagus. When shaving them with a veggie peeler, start from the top and move your way slowly to the bottom. Take your time and don’t rush when doing this, so that you can get nice, whole pieces.

2. Place your sliced almonds on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven for a few minutes until they’re slightly browned.

2. To prepare your dressing, mix the olive and peanut oils with sherry cooking wine, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt and pepper. You can adjust your seasonings to taste.

4. Place your asparagus on a serving plate, top it off with some dressing and finish off with toasted sliced almonds and few pieces of Parmesan.

I’d definitely recommend serving this immediately after pouring the dressing, if you let it sit it can become a bit soggy.