Asparagus Salad with Tamarind, Lime, & Pistachios

The bright green color of Asparagus makes my mouth and heart happy in the middle of winter. This salad is crisp, tart, and sweet in all the right ways. Lime and tamarind bring the tartness; the asparagus and pistachios bring sweetness and crunchy.

I am 100% about using ingredients that easily bring fresh, crispness, and color to the table in winter. In my recent instagram posts (TossedAlaska) I use cucumbers, cabbage, pears, and crisp lettuces to make crunchy and bright salads that don’t require buying fragile greens an hour before you whip them up. This salad follows is in that suite.

Don’t be afraid of the ingredients list. This recipe originates from “Flavor” by Yotam Ottolenghi (a food hero of mine) and Ixta Belfrage. I have modified it to make it delicious but easy. My aim is to make Ottolenghi easy for folks by reducing steps and sometimes eliminating ingredients that add something but might make the recipe arduous. This recipe makes enough dressing for a few salads and the dressing can be stored in the fridge for a week.

This recipe make enough for 4 as a side, or 2 as a main dish with a piece of fish, tofu, chicken, or a piece of baked squash.

First make the dressing by combining these ingredients in a small food processor and blending till smooth.

• 1 1/2 cups mint leaves (plus a 1/2 cup for later)

• 1/2 cup parsley

• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 2 teaspoons tamarind puree (available in most grocery stores) or tamarind paste

• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet (buy a tube of anchovy paste...it stays fresh in the tube)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (keep this and ground cloves in your spices so you can make chai)

• 1 green serrano chili, seeded and chopped

• 1 clove garlic, crushed

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon lime zest and 2 teaspoons lime juice (but also set aside 1 teaspoons of lime juice for later)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons water

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Pour the dressing into a jar and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Now you are ready for the next ingredients

• 1 pound thick stemmed asparagus

• the saved teaspoon lime juice

• 3 tablespoons toasted pistachios, roughly chopped

• the other 1/2 cup mint leaves, roughly torn

Remove the woody part of the asparagus by breaking off the ends. Thinly slice the remaining tender stalk into a bowl using a vegetable peeler. The best way to do this is to start at the bottom and slice upward twice, rotate the stalk 1/3 turn and do it again. Keep doing this until you only have a thin piece of the stalk left. Pick up the next piece and do it over again until you have a bowl of asparagus slices. Or use a knife and slice each stalk as thin as you can.

Mix the asparagus slices with 1 teaspoon lime juice, 2 1/2 tablespoons of the dressing, 1/2 the pistachios, 1/4 cup of the torn mint leaves, and a pinch of salt. Toss. Transfer to a platter, top with remaining pistachios and mint and serve immediately.

Yummy!