Green Bean and Asparagus Salad

Salads were first enjoyed by ancient Romans and Greeks. Although they did not use the word “salad,” they enjoyed a variety of dishes with raw vegetables dressed with vinegar, oil, and herbs. Salads like this one are easy to prepare and come loaded with vitamins. A nice side dish to compliment the upcoming Christmas turkey or ham dinner. This recipe is adapted from New Zealand magazine, Dish. Click here for more on the history of salads.

Serves 6-8
600g green beans
500g asparagus
200g sugar snaps
2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 roasted red bell peppers, peeled and sliced

Dressing
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 shallot, finely chopped
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
1 garlic clove, minced

Blanch the beans, asparagus and sugar snaps. Refresh in iced water then drain and pat dry. For the dressing, combine vinegar and shallots in a bowl and leave for 15 minutes. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and season to taste.

To serve, combine the beans, asparagus, sugar snaps and spinach leaves in a large bowl. Toss with the dressing then add the pine nuts, bell peppers and toss again.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: Leaving the shallots in the vinegar will help soften the shallot and give the shallots a sweeter taste.