Weeknight Cooking

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas

by:
April  8, 2015
3.8
4 Ratings
Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas
Photo by Bobbi Lin
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

Three reasons why this salad is great and you should make it today:
(1) SPRING. ASPARAGUS IS BEAUTIFUL AND EVERYWHERE. Embrace.
(2) Salads are always better when the ratio of fun item to leafy item is a million to one.
(3) Shape-shifting your vegetables is totally in (see: spiralizer), and shaving is a killer and no-crazy-equipment-required method. —Kendra Vaculin

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch asparagus, washed and well-dried
  • 1 big handful arugula
  • 1/4 cup green peas, fresh or frozen and thawed
  • 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) deshelled pistachios, roughly chopped
  • 2 ounces feta, crumbled
  • Juice from half a lemon
  • Good olive oil
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • Flaky sea salt, like Maldon
Directions
  1. Shave the asparagus into ribbons (I used a cheese plane, but a potato peeler and some diligence will work just as well): Holding the base of the stalk with one hand, run the peeler up from about 1/2 inch from the bottom all the way through the spear. One fell swoop makes for a pretty piece of shaved thing. Continue, rotating the asparagus 90° each time you shave, until each stalk is shaved through, discarding the ends. I left some shaved pieces long, and cut some into smaller bits, for variety's sake.
  2. Toss asparagus ribbons with arugula, peas, pistachios, and feta. Dress with lemon juice and a serious drizzle of olive oil, and then season with fresh ground pepper and a hit of flaky salt.
  3. Serve immediately! Shaved asparagus means a lot of vegetable flesh surface area exposed to the elements, which can make your salad soggy if left alone. Don't assemble this bad boy until right before you want to be eating it.
Tags:

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • LeBec Fin
    LeBec Fin
  • Donna Schiavone
    Donna Schiavone
  • Gina George
    Gina George
  • NotTooSweet
    NotTooSweet
  • Fabienne Vukotic
    Fabienne Vukotic
Kendra Vaculin

Recipe by: Kendra Vaculin

A fan of female driven comedies, a good beat, your hair today, and making foods for friends.

Popular on Food52

9 Reviews

LeBec F.
LeBec F. February 14, 2024
nice work! but rather than say 'you lost me at Peas'. i subbed for them w/ cooked shelled edamame. happy face!
best,
mindy
 
NXL
NXL June 22, 2020
This salad was fine. It was definitely nice to have a big bowl of vegetables. However , the predominate flavor is of arugula , not asparagus. And given the amount of time it takes to shave all those stalks , I probably won't make this again.
 
Donna S.
Donna S. July 25, 2017
WOW - this is delicious! I toasted the pistachios and added mint. I am going to try this over a special pasta like pea ravioli!
 
EmilyMarieC
EmilyMarieC April 24, 2017
I made this the other night as a quick but healthy and in-season meal (along with some good bread) when I was feeling lazy, and I loved it! I used a delicious goat's milk feta which really popped along with the lemon and salt. A great, fresh alternative to the (still good, but expected) asparagus risotto or asparagus soup I would've otherwise made.
 
Gina G.
Gina G. May 9, 2016
I loved this! The asparagus I found was very thin, so instead of shaving I sliced and blanched. It was a hit and paired beautifully with rose!
 
NotTooSweet
NotTooSweet April 29, 2016
This is so much better than I thought it would be. I had all the ingredients except for the arugula and my search of what to do with yet another bunch of spring asparagus brought me to this recipe. My husband and I really loved the combinations of flavors, the sweet crunch of pistachios, the bright lemon and salt flakes - the peas were an unexpected delight each time we got one. I used a handful of fresh spinach leaves in lieu of the arugula, but otherwise made as directed. Thanks for a much welcomed new way to eat those lovely spring spears.
 
Fabienne V.
Fabienne V. April 25, 2015
Don't you precook the veggies (asparagus & peas)?
 
chop C.
chop C. April 21, 2015
Made this dish last night. Very clean and delicious. My wife says it is a do again dish.
 
Karla
Karla April 14, 2015
This is crazy delicious!