Green asparagus-potato salad with smoked paprika spiced sea bream

It seems that my time management skills could use some improvement! I do hope to be able to most more often then I used to in the past few weeks. Anyway I am here now with my favourite aspragus dish at the moment. I really can not get enough, I think I could eat it almost every day! I absolutely love the green asparagus with the dijon mustard dressing, it works so well with the mustard grains. Yum! Besides it is also boosted with chili and basil. The fish is just an extra that is perfect if you want more than only a salad for dinner after a long day!

Ingredients:

500 g salad potatoes
300 g green asparagus
1 red onion1 chili
4-5 radishes
1 bunch basil
4 tablespoons rapeseed oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tablespoons dijon mustard with seeds
chili flakes as desired
salt
pepper

Boil potatoes and peel as long as still warm. In the meantime trim off the ends of the asparagus and boil for 2-3 minutes in salted water, then sieve. Slice red onion, radish and as much chili as you like. For the dressing mix together oil with lemon juice, mustard and season with salt, pepper and chili flakes. Add diced potato, asparagus, radish, onion, chili and basil leaves to it and mix well. Serve lukewarm. For the fish simply mix together flour and smoked paprika powder and dust seasoned fish with the flavoured flour and fry in hot vegetable oil until golden brown.

Asparagus salad with pistachio dressing and morels

Back! At least I hope to post on a regular basis like I usually do, though this week is going to be rather busy, but we shall see. Now here I am with a light seasonal salad where green asparagus meets fresh morels and pistachio. I have a serious crash on pistachio, especially if it comes from Sicily. The basis for the dressing is pistachio paste that is boosted with a little honey, some mustard, basil and lime. Such tender green asparagus is really delicious eaten raw, but in order to bring some excitment I grilled half of them. Morels are the perfect mate of asparagus so enjoy it as long as both are still in season!

Ingredients:

for the dressing:
2 tablespoons pistachio paste
1 small garlic clove
1/2 shallot
zest and juice of a lime
1/4 teaspoon english mustard
4-5 fresh basil leaves
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon honey
if too thick 1-2 teaspoons water
salt
pepper

you'll also need:
400 g green asparagus
100 g fresh morels
4 handful of mixed salad leaves
1 teaspoon butter
1 twig thyme
salt
pepper

 

Wash salad and let it drain. Take half of the green asparagus and fry in almost smoking hot a griddle pan for 2-3 minutes or until it gets some colour. Half morels and sautee in butter with thyme. For the dressing blend everything together and season with salt and pepper. Mix raw and grilled asparagus together with the salad and dressing, add morels and season if necessary.

Beetroot-apple-sunchoke salad on beetroot rösti with spring flowers, herbs and quail egg

It is unbelievable how cold it is! No sunshine, not even a light spring breeze. Therefore I am trying to create spring in the kitchen. So I grabbed my favourite ingredient: beetroot and prepared a rösti that had a gorgeous colour. To give the whole thing a nice portion of spring I served it with a pistachio oil dressed salad. To be exact a raw chioggia beet, apple and sunchoke salad with loads of spring herbs: sorrel, chervil, violas, a couple of daises and deadnettle leaves. At least the quail egg brought some sunshine onto the plate!

Ingredients:

for the rösti:
300 g potato (weighed peeled)
150 g beetroot (weighed peeled)
1 tablespoon potato starch
ghee for frying
salt
pepper

for the salad:
1 apple
1 chioggia beetroot
2 sunchokes
1/2 lemon
5 tablespoons pistachio oil
2 tablespoons pistachio
sorrel, chervil, beetroot leaves
deadnettle leaves, viola, daisy
salt
pepper

you'll also need:
4 quil eggs
oil for frying
salt
pepper

For the rösti peel potato and beetroot and grate coarsly. Season with salt and let it stand for 5 minutes, then squeeze out to get rid of any juice. Add potato starch to it, season with pepper and divide into 4 equal portions. Fry rösti for 5-7 minutes in 10 cm diameter rings.

For the salad slice chioggia beet, apple and sunchoke thinly with a help of a mandoline. Whisk pistachio oil together with 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice and dress the veggies, then add the greens and season.

Serve salad with fried quail egg and coarsly chopped pistachio.