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A fine first course salad or accompaniment to any meal thats refreshing and superbly healthy...

Servings: (4)
Prep: 20 Mins.

Posted by Sandra

INGREDIENTS:

***Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon shallot, minced
2 teaspoons dijon
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste


***Salad:
1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and stocks shaved, reserving tops
6 cups spring greens
8 slices prosciutto, cut into thin strips
1 box frozen baby peas, thawed
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

METHOD:

Prepare a large bowl of ice water, and set aside.

In a small non-reactive bowl (glass or ceramic), whisk together lemon juice, shallot, and dijon. Slowly drizzle in olive oil and whisk until vinaigrette is emulsified, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place asparagus on cutting board; hold tip and shave lengthwise along each stalk with a wide vegetable peeler. Place shavings and tops in boiling water and blanche for 2 minutes, then quickly remove and place in large bowl of ice water for 10 minutes, and drain. Blot with paper towel to remove excess water.

In a large salad bowl, toss greens, asparagus, baby peas, and mint, and then drizzle with vinaigrette. Place on four salad plates, and equally sprinkle them with prosciutto strips, and shaved Parmesan. – Enjoy!


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To pick a pear recipe for AFAM Pears, I tried food blog search, Epicurious, the USA pears website and finally settled on Food Networks simple salad recipe from Giadas treasure of recipes. As much as I was tempted on making a coffee cake, or muffins or pears poached in wine and served with ice cream, keeping in mind the summer attack in Bombay, an easy salad (easy on the waist) and that tastes good cold, was very much top of mind, which is what made me choose this.

I have written several times about my love for fruits in a salad. The give a sweetness and a change in texture that makes a salad even more satisfying. So heres another vegetable-fruit combo salad with an interesting vinaigrette. Curry powder in a vinaigrette? The French may turn their pretty noses at this one, but the taste is completely new and wonderful. If the world loves our curry, they will surely love this unusual flavour in a dressing!

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Shaved carrot and pear salad in curry vinaigrette
Time taken - Under 10 minutes
Serves 2
Adapted from Giada Laurentiss recipe.

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Ingredients and Directions

1 Red anjou pear, halved and sliced very thin (use any pears you have on hand)
2 large carrots, shaved with a vegetable peeler into ribbons
2 tbsp fresh parsley or 1 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp pine nuts or walnuts or sunflower seeds

For dressing - whisk together

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder (sambhar powder in my case)
1 tbsp olive oil

Place the shaved carrots, sliced pears and parsley in a large bowl. Pour dressing over salad, add nuts, toss and serve chilled


Other salads from the summer of 2007

Chilled mango salad
Yellow lentil and raw mango salad
Herby tomato salad with pine nuts and cheese
Fattoush
Cucumber sesame salad
Indian carrot peanut salad

And while humming I will survive I am sending this off to my dear friend Raaga who is hosting the event A Fruit a Month, started off by Maheshwari