Asparagus salad with vinaigrette chinoise

4 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 pounds Thin asparagus, end trimmed and stalks peeled to the tip, if thick
½ Head red-leaf lettuce
¼ cup Rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Soy sauce
½ teaspoon Sugar
¼ teaspoon Dried red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons Corn oil
4 teaspoons Sesame seed oil
Coarse salt
1 teaspoon Unsalted butter
¼ cup Raw sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon Diagonally sliced green onion, green part only

Directions

(From "Pacific Northwest Palate," by Susan Bradley.) Slice the asparagus in a long diagonal at 2" intervals. Blanch in a large pot of boiling water for about 4 minutes, until just tender-crunchy. Drain, refresh under cold running water, then dry carefully with paper towels.

Whisk together the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper, corn oil, sesame seed oil and salt, to taste. Toss with the asparagus. Cool, cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight, if desired.

Melt the butter in a small saute pan and stir-fry the sunflower seeds until golden brown. Remove and reserve.

When ready to serve, toss the asparagus and vinaigrette again, arrange on red lettuce leaves on individual salad plates and top with toasted sunflower seeds and sliced green onions.

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