Asparagus Salad with Raspberry Almond Vinaigrette

Gluten Free Mommy was mentioned in the May 2008 NFCA newsletter under “Hot Products.” How cool! Welcome to those of you who found the blog through the newsletter! If you don’t know about the NFCA, it stands for National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for celiac disease.

If you are interested in donating to their organization to help fund celiac research you can do so on the NFCA website.

Now on to my asparagus salad!

I am submitting this asparagus salad recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Sweetnicks.

Weekend Herb Blogging was started by Kalyn’s Kitchen and it gives food bloggers the chance to show off recipes featuring a vegetable, herb, or flower. My featured herb this week is parsley. For years when reading the ingredient ‘parsley’ I merely skipped over it. Now I grow parsley and add it to a lot of my dinners. Parsley contains vitamin C and Iron which are invaluable to those who may have suffered from anemia. If you find that you have leftover parsley, you can freeze parsley (with water) in ice cube trays! Once the ice cubes have frozen, you can put the parsley cubes in plastic bags. If you would like to add parsley to soup, just throw in a parsley ice cube.

RASPBERRY ALMOND VINAIGRETTE

1/4 cup white balsamic raspberry vinegar (or other raspberry vinegar or sub champagne vinegar)

1 teaspoon almond oil (optional)

1 Tablespoon agave nectar

1 Tablespoon parsley, chopped

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon shallot, minced (optional)

SALAD

Asparagus spears, steamed until al dente (I used one bunch- sorry I didn’t weigh it!)

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Shredded or Shaved Parmesan or Asiago Cheese to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Cook your asparagus. Prepare your vinaigrette- combine all the ingredients and whisk (or shake) until well-mixed. For the salad, arrange the asparagus spears on a platter. Drizzle with vinaigrette and sprinkle with almonds and cheese (optional for those who are casein-free).

I served this asparagus salad with pork tenderloin (lazily marinated with a little white wine, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper) and mashed sweet potatoes (plain, drizzled with agave nectar) for a tasty dinner.

This recipe would be suitable for South Beach Phase 2 since it contains agave nectar. If you omit the agave and use reduced fat cheese, it would be suitable for Phase 1.

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Posted by Natalie
Filed under: Vegetarian Recipes

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