When I cannot bear winter produce for one minute longer, this is the salad I make. It’s a vividly colored crunchy, nutty, and spicy mix of asparagus, carrots, and avocado, spring-like vegetables that, rather conveniently in a place where “spring” vegetables may not emerge from the soil until spring is two-thirds over, taste pretty great from the produce we find at the grocery store.
Here, the mayo dresses the crunchy vegetables and rich cubes of avocado in a way that lightly coats them but, I promise, doesn’t scream “mayo salad” in anyway. This is one of my favorite lunch salads, and you should not believe the serving suggestion at all: The recipe is just for you.
Ingredients
- ½ pound (225 grams) asparagus (½ bundle)
- ½ pound (225 grams) slim carrots, mixed-color if you can find them (about 1 bundle)
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) unseasoned rice vinegar
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sriracha
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 large firm-ripe avocado, diced
- Toasted black and/or white sesame seeds, for garnish
Preparation
Hold the asparagus by the tough end (no need to snap it off) and carrots by the stem end, and cut each diagonally into thin slices. Place these in a large bowl, and dress with rice vinegar and a few pinches of salt.
Combine the mayonnaise, sesame oil, sriracha, and soy sauce in a small bowl, whisking until smooth.
When you’re ready to eat the salad, add the dressing to the asparagus and carrots, and stir to coat evenly. Add the diced avocado, and gently fold it in. Taste for seasoning, and add salt and more sriracha to your liking. Finish with the sesame seeds.
About this recipe
From Smitten Kitchen Keepers: New Classics for Your Forever Files by Deb Perelman
Copyright © 2022 by Deb Perelman. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
