Shaved Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette and Almond Feta

I was looking for another way to use fresh asparagus and decided to try to shave it and see how that worked in a salad. The texture is nice, but this is a time consuming salad.

The sun-dried tomatoes are included for their lycopene and cancer fighting abilities. The pine nuts and almond feta were added to provide healthy fat and textural variation.

This a nice combination of flavors that I will be using again in the future.

Shaved Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette and Almond Feta
Makes 4 appetizer salad servings

Ingredients:

1 lemon, juiced and finely zested
2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, grated
salt and pepper, to taste
1 pound of asparagus, tips removed and stems shaved with a vegetable peeler
2 tablespoons of almond feta
2 sun-dried tomatoes, julienned
2 teaspoons of pine nuts, toasted
4 cups of mesclun greens

Directions:

Make the lemon vinaigrette by whisking together the lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest, and garlic. Add salt and pepper to the vinaigrette to taste.

Trim about an inch of the woody ends from asparagus. Trim the last few inches of the asparagus with a vegetable peeler, if it is tough. Cut the tips of the asparagus and put them into the vinaigrette. Using the same peeler, turn the asparagus stems into asparagus fettuccini shapes.

Put the asparagus in the vinaigrette and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

When ready to serve remove the asparagus from the storage container. Toss the greens in the vinaigrette left in the bottom of the storage container. Place the greens on a salad plate and top with a mound of the shaved asparagus. Top the salad with the asparagus tips. Crumble the almond feta on top. Decorate with a few sun-dried tomato slivers and sprinkle the pine nuts on top.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 75.05
Calories From Fat (50%) - 37.44

Total Fat - 4.35g
Saturated Fat - 0.52g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 120.09mg
Potassium - 385.82mg
Total Carbohydrates - 7.79g
Fiber - 3.71g
Sugar - 2.88g
Protein - 3.76g

Comments:

This salad has a great taste, but it is a little bit too time consuming to make if you are in a rush to get dinner on the table.

Shaving the asparagus with a potato peeler works even though it takes a while. I will be saving this technique for special occasions, or when I have a lot of time in the kitchen. To make the asparagus easier to shave buy only the largest asparagus you can find. They are much easier to handle. Also the technique works better if you start at the bottom of the asparagus and peel toward where the tip should be.

On the other hand the flavors were great together and would make a nice topping for a cracker, pasta or pizzette.