Asparagus Salad with Tomato and Onion

About a year ago we discovered that we really like raw marinated asparagus. I have made a similar salad with millet which you will find here. Tonight I wanted to make an asparagus salad without a grain component. If you haven’t had raw asparagus before you should give it a try. This recipe is in essence a quick pickled asparagus.

After reading the full article about nutrition and cancer last week I decided that I was going to add more of those healthy raw vegetables into our diet. Asparagus was one of the foods that inhibited cancer growth, and since we like it raw this was an easy addition to our diet. Here is what I made tonight.

Asparagus Salad with Tomato and Onion
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste (nutrition below assuming ¼ teaspoon of each)
¼ red or yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced in half moons (again as thin as you can slice it)
3 cups raw asparagus, cut into thin coins (as thin as you can cut)
¼ cup grape tomatoes thinly sliced into coins
2 tablespoons pine nuts – for garnish

Directions:

Combine the wine vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Add the onion to the vinegar and toss to coat. Add the asparagus and tomatoes and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes so the flavors can combine. Don’t keep for more than few hours of the vegetables will get too soft. Serve as a side dish or over salad greens and garnish with pine nuts.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 111.74
Calories From Fat (46%) - 51.5

Total Fat - 6.19g
Saturated Fat - 0.52g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 297.92mg
Potassium - 542.17mg
Total Carbohydrates - 11.44g
Fiber - 5.14g
Sugar - 5.33g
Protein - 6g

Comments:

If you add oil to your vinaigrettes you may want to add that to the dressing component of this salad. We have all but eliminated oils which is why it is not in the recipe above. I added pine nuts to this salad for fat, texture and flavor. We love the buttery flavor of pine nuts in spite of the fact that they are not antioxidant packed. You could also add olives if you prefer.  A little fat is necessary to aborb the fat soluble vitamins. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, this is also good with sun-dried tomatoes. Garlic lovers may want to add a clove to the dressing. Cooked beans would also be good in the salad if you want to make it a meal. As you can see the salad can go in many directions.

Each serving of this salad contains approximately 1,700IU of vitamin A, 15mg of vitamin C, 60mg of calcium, 5mg of iron, 110mcg of folate, 90mcg of vitamin K, 165mg of phosphorus, and 55mg of magnesium.

Unrelated Note:

Today was rather disorganized at my house. It started with me losing my keys. I looked for them for an hour before I gave up and decided to do other things. A couple of hours later I found the keys when I wasn’t looking for them. This is what I get for grabbing my keys and not my purse and not putting them back in my purse when I can home. Live and learn.

Since I was stuck at home today, I did some work around the house on my various projects and to do lists. Sometimes it can be very productive to be stuck at home.

On a very positive note the snow we were suppose to get today turned into a very light rain. Yay, something to help this darn snow melt. However, I did see a little bit of grass today. Not much, but I will take it. I am really looking forward to the snow melting.

This is going to be my last post today.  Talk to you all tomorrow.