Let’s talk about asparagus.  Anyone else think that it’s a weird sounding word? No? Okay, maybe it’s just me.  Anyway, it’s one of our favourite veggies because asparagus makes an easy side dish.  All you have to do is sprinkle some salt, pepper and lemon juice (if we want to get all fancy, we add parm) and bake it.  Viola! You got yourself a side dish.  However, this time, we decided to put in a little more effort and make something different with asparagus.  Recently, we came across this asparagus salad made with ribboned asparagus and macadamia nuts and decided to make it along with our lemon parmesan dressing. Truth be told, when I first tried ribboning an asparagus stalk, I wanted to throw the stalks against the wall out of frustration.  For the life of me, I couldn’t ribbon asparagus stalks!  So that’s when Arkadi stepped in with his secret talent.  The guy was freakishly good with this whole ribboning business.  So if you’re like me and can’t actually do the ribboning thing, ask your husband or your flat mate or a stranger from off the street and have them do the deed.  But seriously guys, this asparagus salad with lemon parmesan dressing was really really good! No exaggeration here. You get the crunch from both the asparagus and macadamia nuts and the dressing just makes the entire salad so vibrant and fresh!  If you want to try a new/different way of eating asparagus, here’s the recipe for you:

5.0 from 3 reviews
Ribboned Asparagus & Macademia Salad with Lemon Parmesan Dressing
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 bunch of asparagus, hard stems removed
  • ¼ cup of macadamia nuts, roasted and roughly chopped
For the dressing:
  • ½ cup of freshly grated parmesan
  • 5 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Using a vegetable peeler, start from the top of the spear and gently shave downward to create a thin ribbon. Transfer the asparagus ribbons in a big bowl and set aside.
  2. Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to combine.
  3. Toss the asparagus with the dressing and let marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.
  4. Sprinkle the salad with macadamia nuts and season with salt and pepper.

Some fun facts about asparagus:

1) Asparagus is a member of the lily family.

2) Asparagus is packed with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant nutrients.

3) Asparagus can help with PMS symptoms.

4) The word asparagus comes from the Greek word asparagos, meaning shoot or sprout.

5) There are three main varieties of asparagus – green, purple and white.

6) It takes about 3 years from the time asparagus is planted before you can harvest the spears.

7) China is the largest major grower of asparagus, second is Peru.

8) One serving of asparagus provides a quarter of our daily needs for Vitamin C.

9) Asparagus is a low calorie vegetable.

10) Asparagus pee is real, but not everyone can smell it!