Asparagus Avocado And Orange Salad Recipes

Steps:

• 1 Cut away about 2 inches of the base of each asparagus spear. With a vegetable peeler, shave the entire asparagus from bottom to top, reversing your grip and rotating as necessary to shave as much as possible. Don't rush it; be deliberate for the greatest precision.
• 2 Divide the asparagus strips among 4 salad plates. Cut each avocado half into 4 sections and place 2 wedges on each salad. Sprinkle with the mint leaves. Squeeze lime juice over the salads, drizzle evenly with the oil, and sprinkle with salt.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Pound the garlic with a healthy pinch of salt in a mortar until you have a wet, fairly smooth paste. (You can also do this on a cutting board, chopping and mashing and chopping and mashing until you're satisfied.) Put the paste in a large mixing bowl. Add the cumin, coriander, chilies, and 1/4 cup of the olive oil and stir well, then add the carrots and toss well so they're coated with the oil and spices. Sprinkle on 3 healthy pinches of salt, crushing the grains with your fingers as you add them, and toss again.
• Put the carrots in a large shallow baking dish in one layer. Scrape out the extra garlic, spices, and oil from the bowl and spread evenly on top of the carrots. Pour 1/4 cup water into an empty spot in the casserole (you don't want to wash off the tasty oily stuff) and tilt the dish so the water spreads across the bottom.
• Cover the dish tightly with foil and put it in the oven. Cook the carrots for 25 minutes. Take off the foil and keep cooking until the carrots are lightly browned, and about as tender and creamy as avocado flesh, but not so soft that they threaten to fall apart, about 35 minutes more.
• While the carrots are roasting, segment the orange as you would a lemon. Squeeze the membranes into a small bowl to release the juice. Set it aside.
• When the carrots are done, take the dish out of the oven and let it sit until the carrots have cooled a bit but are still warm.
• Meanwhile, take the avocados from the fridge. Halve them lengthwise, remove the pits, and peel the halves. Cut the flesh lengthwise into slices about the same size as the carrots-the slices should be sturdy enough that they don't break up when you toss them.
• Put the avocado slices in a large mixing bowl and add the reserved orange juice, the lemon juice, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and a healthy pinch or two of salt. Toss gently and well with your hands. Push the avocado to one side of the bowl. Add the carrots a handful at a time, scraping and tossing them in the beautiful green liquid in the bowl before adding the next handful. Make sure to scrape out and add all the garlicky spices left in the baking dish. Toss it all together gently, being careful not to break the avocado slices.
• Stack the carrots, avocado, and orange segments on a platter or in a serving bowl so they're facing this way and that. Top with the cilantro and serve right away.

Steps:

• To make the dressing: In the bowl of a food processor or mini chopper, add the walnuts, shallots and garlic. Pulse until the walnuts are crumbly but the mixture is starting to get a little pasty. Add the oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper and puree until smooth. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
• For the salad: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice and set aside. Cook the asparagus until crisp-tender, 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer immediately to the ice bath to chill for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Cut diagonally on a long, sharp bias into 2-inch pieces. Add to a serving bowl.
• Add the radishes to the asparagus. Squeeze the lemon juice over the vegetables and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Gently toss. Spoon the dressing over the salad and toss again. Arrange the avocado over the salad, then garnish with the tarragon and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Snap the ends of the asparagus off and cut the spears into 1 inch pieces.
• Stean until JUST tender, no more than 4 or 5 minutes.
• Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking.
• Peel the oranges, remove the membrane on segments and cut into chunks.
• Peel and chop the avocados.
• Toss the three together with the lemon juice.
• Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together.
• Pour over the salad and lightly pepper and salt-toss and serve.

Steps:

• Place asparagus and water into a dish, cover, and microwave on high for 3 minutes; stir. Continue microwaving until asparagus are bright green and slightly tender, 2 to 3 more minutes. Drain and cool.
• Toss asparagus, mushrooms, avocado, zucchini, tomato, and red onion gently in a large salad bowl. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, basil, thyme, salt, and black pepper in a jar with a tight-fitting lid; cover and shake dressing to mix. Pour dressing over salad and toss again to coat. Cover salad and refrigerate until serving time.

Steps:

• On two salad plates, arrange the greens, orange, avocado and onion. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients. Drizzle over salads.