Shaved Asparagus Salad Recipe

Salad: It's good for you, but do you ever get tired of the same old lettuce-based side? Raises hand. That's why we love recipe creator Kristen Carli's shaved asparagus salad, which, get this — requires no cooking and comes together with literally just a few ingredients and in about ten minutes. But wait. Uncooked asparagus? 

"It is delicious!" Carli assured us, adding, "Because it is shaved thinly, it is not tough like raw asparagus." Add to your thinly-shaved veggie a bright and tangy dressing, and you are going to love this recipe. Carli notes, "This is an ideal salad to serve at a brunch." She even offered up a few ideas of what else to serve the next time friends or family are headed to your house for a mid-day meal: "This would be great paired with quiche, mimosas, and cucumber sandwiches." Count us in!

For your shaved asparagus salad, you may not even need to make a store trip or order from Instacart. Just check your fridge and pantry for a shallot, which you will mince for the dressing. What is a shallot, you ask? It's basically an onion, but it's sweeter, as Carli told us, and "a bit more delicate in taste." 

The dressing also calls for the zest of a lemon, which is just the peel of a lemon, grated. You'll also need the juice of that lemon, plus salt, pepper, olive oil, and champagne vinegar. If you do not have this ingredient on hand, Carli told us, "White wine vinegar would be a good substitute."

Now, be sure to have about a half pound of asparagus on hand. Finally, this unique twist on salad calls for crumbled goat cheese. Not a fan of this goat's milk cheese? Try feta in its place. 

Step one — and there are not too many steps to prepare this shaved asparagus salad — is to make your salad dressing. Just grab a small bowl, and combine your shallot, which gets finely minced, with the lemon zest and lemon juice. For this step, a lemon juicer may come in handy so you don't risk dropping seeds in the bowl. However, you can easily juice a lemon by hand. Doing so over a mesh strainer will catch those pesky seeds, or you can try holding the lemon half upside down in one hand and squeezing it over the other hand. That way, you can catch the seeds while the juice goes through your fingers into the bowl.

Next, add your favorite salt and pepper to taste. In goes the champagne vinegar and olive oil. Now, stir everything to combine the dressing, and go ahead and set the dressing aside for a quick second.

To prep your asparagus, Carli advises using a vegetable peeler. You will peel up the stalk of each asparagus spear several times. Voila! Asparagus shavings! Of course, you will want to trim off the ends of the asparagus first, with Carli explaining about this can't-skip step, "The ends of the asparagus are very tough. It is necessary to remove the ends so you don't bite into pieces that are not edible." Yeah, no one wants that!

Once you have shaved your entire batch of asparagus for this shaved asparagus salad, you simply place those now fancy-looking veggies in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle on your cheese of choice — goat or feta — and then, drizzle your yummy homemade dressing over the top of the cheese and veg, tossing everything to combine. 

Finally, serve your beautiful salad to your sure-to-be-impressed guests. Just don't forget those mimosas!