Shaved Asparagus Salad With Creamy Parmesan Dressing

This Shaved Asparagus Salad with Creamy Parmesan Dressing is so easy and delicious you will want to make it all season long!

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When asparagus is in season, I don' t know about you but I just can't get enough of it. It was only a couple years ago that I discovered you can actually eat it raw. Not sure it's me who is behind the times or it really is a new thing. Regardless, I had to try it. Shaved asparagus is delicious dressed up many ways but this creamy Parmesan dressing is super easy and compliments the asparagus perfectly.

Using asparagus spears on the thicker side are ideal for shaving. You can imagine it would be pretty tricky to shave a spear that is only ½ cm thick.

Snap off the end of one of the spears to see where it naturally wants to detach it's woody bottom. Use that piece as the gauge for trimming the whole bunch. Leave the elastics on, if they have them, to make this easier.

Discard the ends and wash your asparagus really well. It can sometimes be very sandy especially if you have bought it from a local farm. In that case I recommend rinsing in several changes of cold water to be sure all the sand is gone.

Using a vegetable peeler, hold onto the tips and start peeling away. If you have very thick stalks I would discard the skin as it tends to be very tough and woody. Peel half way through one side and then flip it over to do the rest. Keep peeling until there is nothing left. The tips with usually just snap off. Add those to the pile of shaved asparagus.

The dressing is as simple as just tossing everything into a bowl and giving it a stir. Double it up if you like to keep some in the fridge. It's delicious on pretty much any salad or poured over some grilled veggies. Change it up by adding extra herbs. When my garden is full swing I will add dill, parsley and cilantro.

Using freshly grated Parmesan cheese is essential to get that nice salty kick. Also if you have a big chuck of it you can make some lovely shavings to garnish with.

PRO TIPS FOR BEST RESULTS

• Use thicker asparagus spears to make shaving easier
• Snap off the end of one spear letting it naturally break where it wants to. Then cut off the rest of the bottoms in one go
• Wash in several changes of cold water especially if you bought it from a local farmer.
• Use a higher fat yogurt to add better creaminess.
• Use a block of pure Parmesan cheese for better flavour and to make shavings for garnish

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