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The Jewels of the Spring Salad: Shaved Asparagus with Burrata, Radish & Cucumber

by:
April 30, 2013
4.3
3 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

A simple salad that celebrates the beauty of the spring’s first vegetables: asparagus, radish, young garlic and cucumbers. —QueenSashy

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: QueenSashy is a scientist living in NYC.
WHAT: The definition of spring on a plate.
HOW: Shave your asparagus; whisk together your vinaigrette; arrange your vegetables and burrata on a plate; drizzle and devour.
WHY WE LOVE IT: We love how simple QueenSashy's salad is -- you're just shaving, chopping, and whisking -- but how elegant, how refined it feels. This is exactly what we feel like eating in the springtime; it's bright and cheery, with enough creamy burrata to make it feel just a little indulgent. —The Editors

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Ingredients
  • 6 ounces radishes, sliced thinly crosswise
  • 6 ounces cucumbers, cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 8 ounces asparagus
  • 4 ounces burrata
  • 3 stalks young garlic, white and light green parts only, finely minced
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more to taste
  • 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper
  • 1 handful micro greens to garnish (entirely optional)
Directions
  1. Snap off the tips of the asparagus and slice them into thing slices. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the remaining spears into long, thin shavings.
  2. Prepare the vinaigrette. Combine the vinegar, lime juice, and lime zest in a small bowl and slowly whisk in olive oil until well blended. Add the young garlic and season generously with salt and pepper. (Taste and adjust the acidity and seasoning according to your taste.)
  3. Arrange the radishes, cucumber and asparagus on a plate Top with burrata and vinaigrette. Serve.
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Aleksandra aka QueenSashy is a scientist by day, and cook, photographer and doodler by night. When she is not writing code and formulas, she blogs about food, life and everything in between on her blog, Three Little Halves. Three Little Halves was nominated for 2015 James Beard Awards and the finalist for 2014 Saveur Best Food Blog Awards. Aleksandra lives in New York City with her other two halves, Miss Pain and Dr. V.

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14 Reviews

Write a Review
varianishungry March 18, 2024
Bright and beautiful salad. Made it with lemons instead of limes with white wine vinegar. Also added native spring wildflowers… because why not?
Patrick R. June 13, 2018
Do you cook the asparagus at all? or is it raw?
QueenSashy June 13, 2018
It's raw. You may want to cut the very bottom of the stalks in case they are tougher then the rest of the asparagus.
Patsy June 6, 2015
Please Help me, exactly what is Burrata, what are the ingredients??? I am from N.C. and have never heard of it before.
QueenSashy June 6, 2015
Burrata is an Italian cheese, which has an outer shell made of mozzarella, and inside the shell is a mixture of thick cream and soft curd. It is hard to find a dead-ringer substitute for burrata, but if you do not have access to it and would like to make this salad, I would suggest using a mixture of fresh ricotta and heavy cream (or ricotta and mascarpone) – it will work better than using mozzarella, because it is really the soft center of burrata that gives this salad the kick.
Nancy March 27, 2015
I had this salad at a restaurant in Coronado, CA just yesterday! I was searching online for a similar recipe to see what type of vinaigrette was used and found your recipe. Thanks for sharing!! This was fantastic!
Tory N. March 27, 2015
This looks like everything I want for all of spring!
QueenSashy March 27, 2015
Thanks Tory! Now let's keeps fingers crossed and hope that spring comes, it's been long overdue...
Vanina H. May 24, 2014
What a unique dish! My experience was pretty successful. The burrata was a perfect combination with the slightly bitter and crunch of the asparagus and radish! I did however ran into a couple of hiccups. Ounces was a little difficult to know for the asparagus since its bought from the bunch so I just estimated(not a big deal). Also I didn't know that young garlic were scallions. I actually bought a garlic and was so confused! haha definitely learned something new :) Thanks for sharing!

QueenSashy May 25, 2014
Vanina, thank you for your comment! I completely agree, who can translate asparagus stalks into ounces, I surely cannot. There are some dishes that simply resist being turned into ounces and grams and for me this is one such dish.
To tell you the truth, I never make this salad from the recipe exactly, it is the market that guides me. Sometimes I throw in some scallions or young spring onions, sometimes I add microgreens. For a small plate of salad my rule of thumb per person is 4 or so radishes, 2 stalks of asparagus, and two or so tablespoons of cucumber dice.
kate May 21, 2014
Sadly, Burrata is not available where I live :(. Any suggestions for a good substitution?
QueenSashy May 21, 2014
This is an interesting question. The most obvious replacement in many dishes would be mozzarella, but in this salad, it is really the creamy center of burrata that makes me happy. How about a mixture of ricotta and mascarpone?
hardlikearmour May 2, 2013
Do you have miner's lettuce in your photo? If not, what is that cool looking green?
QueenSashy May 4, 2013
Yes, it's miner's lettuce. I happened to have some handly, and could not resist adding some to the photo.