Asparagus & Edamame Salad with Green Garlic

Edit 2/26/07: Hi Readers! If you're visiting from the Bariatric Eating forums, please check out my post about the use of this recipe. Thanks, and enjoy your visit!

This is another dish from a what’s good in the produce section? moment. There was green garlic on offer, and that happens so infrequently that I cannot pass it up. It’s a springtime-only item.

Those of you who eschew soy, take heart; you could make this with lima or fava beans and achieve a lovely result as well. I had this all on its own for a light dinner. It would also work well over pasta or with a risotto.

I only used one stalk of green garlic in this – it came in a bunch of five. Green garlic looks like an overgrown scallion or a 98-pound weakling leek, but it is orders of magnitude stronger than either. Be sure to taste a thin slice before adding it to anything so you get a sense of how to harness its power rather than be overwhelmed by it.

The mustard in the dressing might seem a little incongruous. It does something to the lemon juice, though – it provides a mediating factor so that you don’t just taste the sharp acid note.

1/2 pound frozen shelled edamame
1 bunch asparagus, sliced diagonally
1 bunch radishes, cut in matchsticks
1 bulb fennel, cut in thin slivers
1 stalk green garlic
1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil
scant 2 T. lemon juice
1/2 T. whole-grain mustard
1/4 c. dill, minced
1/2 t. salt
freshly ground pepper

Bring two quarts of water to boil and salt well. Place the shelled edamame in the pot, cover, and cook for eight minutes. Using a skimmer, remove the edamame to a large, shallow bowl. Place the bowl in the freezer. Place the asparagus in the water and cook for two minutes. Skim out and add to the bowl containing the edamame.

Chunk the green garlic up to where it starts to become dark green, and place in the work bowl of a food processor along with the olive oil, lemon juice, and mustard. Process until smooth; add dill, salt and pepper and buzz briefly to combine.

Remove the edamame and asparagus from the freezer. Add to the bowl the radishes and fennel. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix gently.

Makes two main or four side servings.

Comments

[Alanna]

Hi Jocelyn! Do you know Kevin from Seriously Good? He's doing this asparagus thingie (kind like an event but not) and know he'd love to see this from you. What a PLATE! There's a link on my blog if you're interested -- might as well! AK

[Jocelyn]

Thanks so much for the recommendation and the compliment, Alanna! I really appreciate you letting me know about Kevin's event. I checked his blog and am so envious of anyone who has ever had a 20-foot asparagus bed to himself. I'll send this along forthwith!

[Jean]

Where in Visalia can I buy edamame?

[Jocelyn]

Jean, edamame can generally be found in the frozen sections of well-stocked supermarkets, and if not there, they are often available pre-packaged in a refrigerated area of the produce section. I don't make it into regular supermarkets often, but I'd expect that Albertsons, Vons and Save Mart likely all carry it at this point. Get the pre-shelled beans if you can, for this recipe - they will save you a lot of time.

[Kir]

I wanted to let you knwo that your recipe for this is being used on bariatriceating.com

Photo and all..wanted to make sure susan maria leach isnt using your recipe and taking credit for it..she actually is publishing book # 2 through harper collins..I dont want you to not be given credit for a recipe and have her make money off of something you created.

http://store.bariatriceating.com/vedi.html

[Jocelyn]

Thanks again for letting me know, Kir - I did drop Susan a line. She removed my photo and altered the recipe somewhat. I also noticed that she replied to you about your comment on this page in her site forum, in which she advanced that my photo isn't copyrighted, which is not the case - it is. I put up a full post about this, along with some insight about some misconceptions about copyright, at the address below.

http://www.shespillsthebeans.com/kitchen/2007/02/some_bites_abou.html