inspired by this great video (by tiger in a jar), i had to try this salad. it takes very little time, but makes a big visual impact and tastes just fantastic. i make a few changes, and made it vegan obviously, but it still retained this bright, fresh flavor which i really loved. it also kept me full all day, despite being under 150 calories. grab a bunch of asparagus and try it out for yourself!
my version:
- clean 1 bunch asparagus, about 12-15 spears. the thicker kind would do better for this meal. take a peeler and start to ribbon each spear, as shown in the video. (it’s very easy and pretty relaxing!) peel apart all of them and place them in a bowl.
- clean 4-6 shiitake mushrooms, then chop them if desired. place in a small sauté pan with a bit of water in the bottom. cover and heat on medium low for 5-10 minutes, or until softened.
- while the mushrooms are steaming, cut a half inch piece of fresh ginger and shred it into the asparagus salad. (i just used the peeler to make tiny slices.)
- over the salad, drizzle the juice of half a lemon, about a tbsp or so olive oil, and a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
- next, make the vegan “parmesan” topping. (very easy and totally delicious!)
- place about 15 raw almonds in a plastic bag. (you may need to double the bag later, so keep one on hand.)
- close the bag and crush the nuts with a hammer until they’re uniformly sized. it’s not too important to get them down to a powder, just get them small enough to be considered a “crumble.”
- pour a dash or two garlic powder in the bag, along with a heaping pinch fine-grained salt. shake to combine, then add more of any of the three ingredients to taste.
toss everything together in a large bowl, then sprinkle more of the parmesan on top. serve right away. even though this serves two, i could’ve easily eaten it by myself because it was that good!
per recipe: calories 139 / total fat 11g / potassium 265mg / carbs 5g / protein 5g / vitamin a 18%dv / vitamin c 12%dv / calcium 3%dv / iron 7%dv
