Recipe: Spring Asparagus Salad
Green, Crunchy, and Alive
Quick Poll:
Do you have 2 seconds?
Help Me Shape What Comes Next.
I want this space to serve you—to inspire, nourish, and fit into your real life. Please tell me what you’re here for. Is it just the recipe, or do you enjoy reading the story, healthy eating tips, action items and my fresh approach to help you eat well? Click the answer.
Back in the Garden, Back to the Plate
Go to the Spring Asparagus Salad Recipe
After a month away—visiting my son, Aidan, and his family in New York, and coaxing seedlings into my Saskatchewan garden—I’m feeling the energy of a new season in every way. There’s something grounding about returning to the kitchen after time in the soil, especially when the season’s first produce is finally here.
In spring of 2023, I created this delicious Spring Asparagus Salad for my cooking show, The Wheatland Cafe. It’s a celebration of all things fresh and green. Shaved asparagus, crunchy radishes, sweet peas, red peppers, and fragrant herbs come together in a simple lemon vinaigrette. It’s vibrant, nourishing, and filled with the kind of vitality we’re all craving after a long prairie winter.
Foraging for supper…in the ditch
When I was a teenager, we lived in a small rural town south of Ottawa. Each spring, my mother used to comb the ditches by our house picking wild stalks. My brother, Adam, continues this tradition today. In Saskatchewan, I’ve had no such luck finding wild asparagus so I get domesticated at the farmers market or the grocery store. Either way, asparagus to me is a reminder that spring is here and salad season is on the way!
My brother Adam is a terrific home cook and he loves foraging for his supper, even in the ditch sometimes! Look at those gorgeous stalks. He transformed them into a family fav—asparagus on toast.
The perfect side kick
I love to eat this week’s salad with a lovely piece of grilled protein like chicken or fish, or as part of a selection of vegetable side dishes like grilled sweet potatoes and peppers, and marinated and grilled portobello mushrooms. The flavours brighten the meal and it is the perfect sidekick.
This is how I like to eat in early June—light, bright, and alive. The toasted almonds bring a lovely crunch, while a few shavings of parmesan and a touch of lemon zest elevate the whole platter. It’s proof that healthy doesn’t have to mean complicated or bland.
🌱 Your Action Steps this Week
🌱 Visit your local farmers’ market and pick up at least one seasonal vegetable— (maybe a handful of asparagus?) that you haven’t cooked with yet.
🌱 Make a fresh herb vinaigrette—use this week’s vinaigrette as your base and add some chopped parsley, mint, dill, or whatever’s growing near you. Try drizzling it on a plate of broiled asparagus—so delicious.
🌱 Build one meal this week around vegetables first—then layer in whatever else you need.
Happy Foraging—in the wild, farmers market or store.
CJ
xo
Recipe: Spring Asparagus Salad
Ingredients
½ bunch asparagus, sliced thinly lengthwise
½ cup diced red pepper
4 large radishes, sliced
1/3 cup green peas
2 green onions, thinly sliced
Small handful fresh mint leaves, chopped
Small handful parsley, chopped
Toasted sliced almonds, for garnish
Few shavings parmesan cheese, for garnish
Lemon zest, for garnish
Lemon Dressing
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 heaping tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Combine the asparagus, red pepper, radishes, green peas, green onions, mint and parsley in a bowl. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon and garlic. Taste and add salt and pepper. Pour over salad ingredients and toss well. Garnish with toasted almonds, parmesan and lemon zest.
all the beautiful colors and flavors of Spring.
Thanks Tanya!