Wednesday, April 1, 2015

'A' for Asparagus, Avocado and Arugula. A to Z Challenge Day 1.

Asparagus, Avocado and Arugula.....
Some my favourites foods start with A. None of them are available in Calcutta except in winter and only in very elusive shops in New Market. In fact, once in Bangalore I saw asparagus in summer and I was so excited, my friend actually bought me some! So the other day, while it was still winter here (now a distant memory) I made that trip to New Market, which is not new at all, and found all the ingredients were available. Now that's a rarity so it set me wondering if there was something that could be cooked up featuring  all three of my favourite  greens!
So I checked online and found a lovely recipe for Triple A (asparagus, apple and avocado) salad. The recipe is at this link: http://www.joyofkosher.com/recipes/triple-a-salad-asparagus-and-apples/, do have a look at it.

And, if you are feeling adventurous, do try out my version!  

AAA Salad

Ingredients:
  1. 1/3 cup honey
  2. juice of two lemons, about 1/4 cup
  3. 1 pod of garlic, minced fine but not ground to a paste.
  4. 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
  5. 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  6. 1/2 tsp salt
  7. 1/2 cup olive oil (I use extra virgin for salads) 
  8. 2 to 3 cups Arugula leaves, washed, torn into bite sized pieces.
  9. 1 cup Asparagus, cut into 1 inch slices
  10. 1 or 2 Avocado pears peeled and sliced (about a cup)
  11. 1/2 cup strawberries, hulled and chopped into biggish pieces
  12. 1/2 cup feta cheese
  13. 1/2 cup bacon grilled crisp and chopped/crumbled.

Directions: 
  1. Combine the honey, lemon juice, garlic, pepper, salt and oil in a glass bowl. 
  2. Blend with a hand blender or in a food processor for about 2 minutes until well combined. You can use a salad dressing mixer too, if you want. 
  3. Check seasoning and sweetness. You may prefer to add a little honey or lemon. 
  4. Place the cut asparagus in a separate bowl and cover with boiling water. Count to ten and then discard the boiling water and immediately fill the bowl with ice-cold water. Wait ten seconds and discard that too. 
  5. Place the Arugula leaves in a salad bowl followed by a layer of asparagus, chopped strawberry, avocado and bacon. Add the dressing and toss. Crumble feta cheese over the salad and serve immediately. 
ENJOY! 


DISCLAIMER/NOTE: Why the bacon? Because I love it and believe that it adds flavour to anything from mushroom soup to liver pate, omit it if you want. Or replace it with roasted chopped walnuts! 
All my ingredient measures are approximate. I am sorry but I never seem to have proper measures for anything I cook. A lot of it is by eye, if you know what I mean.... I hope the measures I have given will do the trick!  



13 comments:

  1. Looks tasty! The nice thing about recipes is you can substitute, add more of one thing and less of another, try different spices, etc., so even if the measures aren't exactly right, it'll still taste good. A lot of good cooks work more by sight and taste and less with the formula. Good start!

    John Holton
    Blogging from A to Z 2015 Cohost
    The Sound of One Hand Typing

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  2. Sounds delicious! To taste it will take time and a trip to the speciality market here in Delhi. As for measures - I can never follow a recipe down to the minutest detail. So I expect this salad to take a couple more twists and turns by the time I'm through with it. :)

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  3. Mmmm I love anything with avocado! :)

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  4. All the best, Re, let me know how it turned out! And Robyn, I do love anything with Avocado too. Even fresh with just a hint of lime!

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  5. You had me at bacon. Ha! I love asparagus, just bought some this morning. Living abroad must be such an adventure!

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  6. One not but three ingredients, that's a wonderful start!
    I would try the veg version. :)
    A is for Arcadian smile ~ A Poesy Discourse

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  7. Ooh that sounds delicious! I've just started eating more avocado. Thanks for the recipe.

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  8. I think my mom's asparagus is just coming up and will soon be ready to harvest and eat....I might have to try this. I have always been bummed we don't have such easy access to fresh pineapples, mangos, bananas, they are very available her but not the same as right off the tree in Cambodia or Costa Rica and many other places, but through this A2Z challenge (2016) I have realized I am blessed by other things that are easy to get right out of my garden that others can't get quite so readily.

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