Spicy Asparagus Green Bean Salad

By Jessica Cameron     Aug 14, 2010

     I was looking for something that would take advantage of extremely fresh garden vegetables, and did not involve a creamy or mayonnaise based dressing. I wanted just fresh and bright vegetables of summer all together at the height of their season.  A vegetable garden in a bowl!  Crunchy, green, and fresh goodness!

• Vinaigrette (See Below, make first to allow time for it to blend in flavors)
• 1 White onion
• 1 cup approx of rice wine vinegar
• 2 lbs of asparagus trimmed
• 1 lbs of French green beans trimmed
• 2 medium red bell peppers
• 2 small –medium heads of fresh fennel
• 1 bundle (5-8 stalks) of green onion

• Vinaigrette
• 2 tblsp of Dijon Mustard
• 3-4 grated garlic cloves (not too heavy, if they are large only 2)
• 2 tblps of dried red pepper flakes
• ½ cup good champagne vinegar
• 1 cup grape seed oil
• General portion of freshly ground black pepper

     Mix all the ingredients up to the vinegar, then whisk in the oil to emulsify and then season with black pepper to taste.  I, personally, prefer a generous hand with the black pepper, but up to you.  Mix thoroughly until emulsified and set aside at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Pickled Onions

     Take a white onion and slice in half.  Lay the flat side of your half on the cutting board, and thinly slice, as much as possible, your onion, until you have about a cup to a cup and a half.

     Coat your sliced onion in enough rice wine vinegar until it’s fairly coated, and mix occasionally while it is marinating to keep it all evenly coated.  Set that aside with your vinaigrette, while preparing the rest of the vegetables.

Asparagus & Green Beans

     Prepare your asparagus by getting rid of the woody ends.  Prepare your green beans by trimming each end for clean presentation.  Boil a pot of water, add your asparagus first, and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until cooked through but still has tooth. Do the same for your green beans next.  When done cooking submerse both veggies in an ice bath to keep the green and stop the cooking.  When they have cooled enough to stouch, chop them into roughly 3 sections per bean/asparagus. It should result in roughly 1-2 inch pieces.

Fennel

     Trim your fennel of its feathery greens and touch root bases until you’re left with a cleaned up bulb.  Half it depending on the shape, until you have a flat surface, like the onion, to thinly slice half moon pieces of fennel.  You should have about a cup to a cup and a half when done.  This should emulate the size and shape of your onion slices.

Red Bell Pepper

     Remove the stem and clean out the ribs of your red bell peppers.  Slice the bell peppers in half, lengthwise, then slice them in half across their midsection to half the half.  Slice into thin strips again to emulate the onion and fennel.

     Once you’ve trimmed and chopped everything, drain all ice bath water and vinegar marinades each ingredients are in, and assemble I one giant bowl –mix!  Chopped your green onions and add to the mix.  Then add the vinaigrette and again, mix thoroughly.

     Chill for at least an hour to overnight if need be for a future preparation.

Enjoy!

The VinaigretteAsparagus & Green Beans ready for blanchingFennelThe final product

Comments

[Michelle G]

Yum! Great idea combining asparagus and fennel...2 vegetables I enjoy thoroughly :) The recipe looks delish!