Summer House Salad

I finally visited a Summer House in Denmark on the Northern Shore of Zealand and I had a wonderful time.  We made a lovely barbecue and I helped make two salads, both loosely based on Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes as we had to adapt to what was available in the local market.  This one is made with asparagus, peapods, spinach and red onion in a light lemony dressing. It looked so beautiful and tasted so fresh that I had to share the adapted recipe with you. The asparagus and the peapods were blanched quickly so they are still a bit crunchy. 

Summer House Salad

1 bunch Asparagus, ends snapped off and cut into 3 - 4 pieces on the angle 

1 handful of Peapods (also called Mangetout), ends snipped off and strings pulled off

2 big handfuls of washed spinach leaves

1 small red onion, trimmed, peeled, halved and cut very thinly

1 red Jalapeno, trimmed, seeded and cut into little pieces

4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon toasted Sesame Seeds

Bring a small pot of water to boil and put int he asparagus and peapods and cook for 2 - 3 minutes.  Drain and rinse with cold water.In a small bowl, mix together the Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Salt and add in the red Jalapeno pieces and onions to marinate. When ready to serve, put spinach leaves down on the platter, then place the Asparagus and Pea Pods on top. Then put the marinated onions all over and drizzle the dressing on.  Sprinkle with Sesame Seeds and toss right before serving.

Five Element Analysis

With such a lot of green in this salad, you know it has to be full of the Wood Element and the olive and lemon juice add even more!The red onion contributes the Metal Element and the Sesame Seeds bring in the Water Element. The little bit of Red Jalapeno adds a bit of the Fire Element.  So this is a really good salad to serve when you need more of the Wood Element in your diet.