Snap Pea and Carrot Salad with Ginger-Cucumber Dressing

The other night with our burgers, we ate this incredibly refreshing salad.  You might think all salads are refreshing, but this one really takes it to another level.  Not only are the veggies in the salad crisp and rejuvenating, but the dressing itself will wake up your taste buds in the best kind of way. 

Sugar snap peas and carrots are magical vegetables, in my opinion.  They are sweet and crunchy and juicy.  They also happen to smell and taste delicious.  Toss them with some lettuce and a cucumber-ginger dressing, and you have a bordering on transcendental salad.  This is seriously good salad, folks.  Seriously. 

Cucumber and ginger go together so well - one is mild and the other is hot, but together they are a powerful duo.  This is the kind of salad I imagine you'd be served at a fancy spa in the desert somewhere.  Or you could just make it at home, like I did.  I'm thinking the latter is a lot less expensive.

Snap Pea and Carrot Salad with Ginger-Cucumber Dressing

adapted from Simple Fresh Southern

serves 3

INGREDIENTS:

1 large handful sugar snap peas, stems trimmed, thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely shredded on a box grater

1 small head romaine, sliced into 1/4 inch thick ribbons

salt to taste

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1/2 English hothouse cucumber, peeled, seeded, cut into chunks

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Toss snap peas, carrots, and lettuce with a pinch of salt in a large bowl to combine.  Set aside.

2.  Put the ginger, cucumber, oil, and vinegar in a food processor with another pinch of salt.  Process until the dressing is smooth and thoroughly combined.

3.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until evenly coated.  Season to taste with salt, and serve.

Enjoy!

Creamy Asparagus Soup with Grilled Asparagus

The name of this recipe is a bit of a puzzle, if you ask me.  There is buttermilk in this soup, but it doesn't make it creamy so much as give it a silky texture and a bit of a tang that you can't quite place.  The asparagus tips that provide the garnish are, I suppose, technically skillet-grilled, but really seem to be more fried to me, to the point that they are delectably crispy and deeply flavorful.

But whatever you call it, this is a delicious and fresh soup that showcases the bounty of early spring.  Asparagus is everywhere you look right now, and it's time to put it to work.  This soup is easy, quick, and has only a handful of ingredients.  I wasn't a fan of asparagus until the past couple of years, but I find that recipes like this one are exactly what asparagus is born for - to stand out as the star of the show, rather than to adorn a plate as a mere side.

Try it out and see if you agree!

Creamy Asparagus Soup with Grilled Asparagus

adapted from the Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern

serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends discarded

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 teaspoon canola oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

fresh ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Cut the asparagus spears into 3/4 inch pieces.  Reserve about half of the tips and set aside.

2.  Bring the broth to a simmer in a medium pot and season with about 1/4 teaspoon salt.   Add the asparagus pieces (except the reserved tips) and onion and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, or until tender.

3.  While the soup simmers, heat the oil in a small skillet until smoking.  Add reserved asparagus tips and remaining salt, and fry (or pan-grill), refraining from stirring them more than every minute or so, until browned in places, about 3-4 minutes.  Set on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

4.  Puree the soup in a blender, food processor, or using an immersion blender.  Return to the pot and stir in the buttermilk.  Bring to a simmer and season with pepper.  Serve garnished with the pan-grilled asparagus tips.

Enjoy!

Cabbage and Lime Salad with Roasted Peanuts

This is a refreshingly different sort of salad, just bursting with zesty lime flavor.  It's another great example of ordinary ingredients turned extraordinary.  Just grab a couple of cabbages, some limes, and a bunch of spinach at the farmer's market, and you're most of the way there.  The crunch of peanuts serves as a delicious bonus.

This salad comes together easily, but you do have to be somewhat premeditated because of the two hours of resting time.  I actually wilted the cabbage in salt the night before, since by the time it had rested for two hours I would have been criminally hungry.  The wilted cabbage keeps, covered in the refrigerator, for up to a couple of days, so you can get that part out of the way in advance. 

You can happily enjoy this as a main course salad with some bread, or use it as a slaw with tasty BBQ.  You might be tempted to add cilantro (I don't know about you, but lime and cilantro are naturally associated in my brain), but I'd recommend tasting it first.  As much as I love cilantro, I think it would turn this into a completely different dish, and not necessarily in a good way. 

Cabbage and Lime Salad with Roasted Peanuts

adapted from The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern

serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 small red cabbage, trimmed, cored, and shredded

1/2 small green cabbage, trimmed, cored, and shredded

1 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 bunch of fresh spinach leaves, cut into 1/2-inch ribbons

1 lime, segmented

juice of two limes

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 cup canola oil (peanut oil if you have it)

1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.  In a large bowl, toss the cabbages with the salt.  Transfer to a colander, place over the bowl, and let sit for two hours to drain.  After two hours have passed, discard the salty water in the bowl (after admiring the pretty color), rinse and dry the bowl, and return the cabbage to it.

2.  Add spinach and lime segments to the bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk lime juice, mustard and cumin together.  Stream in the canola oil, whisking constantly, to emulsify the dressing.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss together.  Toss in the peanuts and serve.

Enjoy!