Shaved Asparagus Salad
Updated June 15, 2020
Shaved Asparagus Salad- This shaved asparagus salad with arugula, pistachios, Parmesan cheese, avocado, and a homemade lemon salad dressing is a springtime favorite! Serve along side any meal!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItShaved Asparagus Arugula Salad
Every spring when asparagus comes into season I get SO excited. I love the bold, earthy flavor that asparagus brings into any meal! It is one of my favorite vegetables.
This Shaved Asparagus Arugula Salad combines some of my favorite springtime foods. It’s a bright and delicious side dish or makes a tasty lunch. I seriously could eat this salad every single day. It is so fresh and delicious! I guarantee it will be a springtime favorite!
Salad Ingredients
I love the flavor combinations in this simple salad. The salad is a gorgeous green color with the perfect mix of textures and flavors. To make this salad, you will need the following ingredients:
- Asparagus– The star of the salad!
- Arugula– I love adding arugula to bulk up the salad and the peppery kick is nice! If you don’t like arugula, you could use spinach.
- Avocado – Peel, pit, and chop it right before assembling the salad.
- Parmesan – Go for the good stuff. I promise you’ll taste a difference! Feta would also be good!
- Pistachios – I love that nutty crunch! You could also use almonds, pecans, pine nuts, or walnuts.
- Simple Lemon Dressing– The salad dressing only takes a few minutes to whisk up!
How to Shave Asparagus
Shaving asparagus is easy and it makes the salad extra special and elegant. Plus, it makes raw asparagus silky and soft, making it perfect for eating in a salad.
When you are picking out your asparagus for the salad, look for bigger, thicker spears because they will be easier to peel. If you can only find skinny asparagus spears, you can still use them, they will just be a little harder to shave and the ribbons won’t be as pretty, but still good:)
First, trim off the woody ends of the asparagus (that’s the lighter end). You can use a knife or snap them off.
To shave the asparagus, you need a vegetable peeler. I like to use this peeler. Hold an asparagus spear with one hand and use a vegetable peeler to slice away from your hand, starting at the bottom end. Shave into ribbons. If you need to place the asparagus spear on a cutting board for stability, you can.
Continue shaving all of the asparagus spears. Don’t worry if some of the tips fall off. Save them and add them with the ribbons. You don’t want to waste any of the asparagus.
Simple Lemon Dressing
Salad dressing is SO EASY to make at home and SO much better than store bought. This light and refreshing lemon dressing is the perfect finish to the shaved asparagus salad.
In a bowl, whisk together the following ingredients.
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Champagne vinegar
- Honey
- Garlic
- Salt and pepper
Set it aside until you’re ready to drizzle it over the prepared salad. Any unused dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week!
Assembling the Salad
Place the shaved asparagus in a large bowl. Add the arugula and toss together. Add the avocado, shaved Parmesan cheese, and pistachios. Drizzle desired amount of dressing over the salad and gently toss. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve the salad immediately.
This salad is best the day it is made. If you want to prep the salad in advance, you can shave the asparagus and keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. You can also make the dressing in advance. Don’t cut the avocado until you are ready to assemble and serve the salad.
More Asparagus Recipes:
- Roasted Asparagus
- Roasted Asparagus with Lemon, Feta, and Pistachios
- Simple Sesame Asparagus
- Asparagus Chickpea Quinoa Salad
- Asparagus Spinach and Feta Quiche
- Perfect Spring Salad
Shaved Asparagus Salad
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
For the Salad:
- 1 lb large asparagus, woody ends trimmed
- 3 oz fresh arugula
- 1 large avocado, pitted, peeled, and chopped
- 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup chopped pistachios
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- First, make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, honey, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
- Use a vegetable peeler to shave the asparagus. Lay an asparagus spear flat on a cutting board. Starting at the bottom end, use the peeler to shave it into long thin strips or ribbons. Place the asparagus shavings in a large bowl and repeat with remaining asparagus.
- Add the arugula to the bowl. Toss the shaved asparagus and arugula together. Add the avocado, shaved Parmesan cheese, and pistachios. Drizzle desired amount of dressing over the salad and gently toss. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve the salad immediately.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
Leave a comment below and share a photo on Instagram. Tag @twopeasandpod and hashtag it with #twopeasandtheirpod
Photos by Dishing Out Health
Thanks for Sharing!
If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating and comment below! You can also share a picture on Instagram! Tag @twopeasandpod and use the hashtag #twopeasandtheirpod.
where to you get champagne vinegar
Most stores have it. You can also use white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar.
This is a fantastic Spring salad to make when the fresh asparagus is ready!! We had it at our Easter Brunch and it was wonderful with the quiches and breakfast meats (bacon; chicken/garlic sausages)!! Will make this again and again!!
This is truly delicious, light and fresh. I loved it! I cut the amount of oil in half (I do that with almost every salad dressing. I like the zing of the vinegar and lemon more than the oil) and took out the avocado cause I’m not the biggest fan. I thought the combo was great and the texture was great. I never thought of eating raw asparagus before but I will now (even if shaving them was a little tedious haha)
This is my go-to salad recipe this year. I made it on Easter and then again for a girlfriend get-together. Needless to say, it goes with everything!
I don’t use avocado anymore in the recipe as I didn’t think it added anything to the salad. I slice up a few Trader Joes Organic Turkish dried figs and add it to the salad instead. If you can find a good lemon-infused olive oil it takes the flavor of the dressing up a notch, but it is delicious with the standard recipe too!
This recipe was outstanding. I didn’t have time to run to the store to get the arugula so I just made it without it and it was still fantastic. I also followed the other reviewers’ advice and omitted the avocado. This was perfect with simply the dressing, pistachios, parm and shaved asparagus. So perfectly springy. My husband, guests and I loved it. Thanks, Maria!
I made this salad as part of dinner last night and it was amazing!!! Even after the comments about leaving out the avocado, I decided to leave it in, as I need more healthy fat in my diet. I mixed up the dressing early morning, and shook it off and on throughout the day. Just before assembling salad (right before dinner) I added some salt and coarse pepper, and a little more (fresh) lemon juice, as it wasn’t as flavorful as I wanted. The salad was awesome! Our company and I couldn’t get enough of it! Thank you for the delicious and healthy recipes!
p.s. I also forgot to add that I used white wine vinegar, as there was no champagne vinegar to be found here, and the dressing was still really good.
I am so glad you loved the salad. Thanks for sharing!
Delish
Thanks!
This was delicious and a big hit at the dinner party!
Delicious! The perfect taste of spring! I added some hard boiled egg and a scoop of ricotta that I’d mixed w/some lemon zest. Absolutely will make it again!
Love it!
This was delicious and a big hit tonight!
Yay!
This salad is AMAZING!! I never tried raw asparagus before & now I’m a fan – thank you : )
I omitted the nuts (as well as reducing the amount of oil) due to the higher fat content that this salad has. However, I cut up very thin asparagus into little 1/4″ chunks and that gave it the “crunch” that I imagine the nuts would give.
A spring favorite!
This recipe is great. I was getting bored with steamed asparagus and this was an unexpected surprise. I omitted the avocado and arugula – it was still fantastic! Peeling the asparagus is tedious but worth it!
I am glad you loved the salad.
Delicious!!! What a lovely blend of textures and flavors. The shaved spears are a perfect canvas for the dressing and BTW help for salvaging asparagus that has been around for a bit too long.
I added some thinly sliced red onions, lemon zest and omitted the avocado, as thought it would be lost.
A new favorite salad and way to eat asparagus! Thank you for sharing!
Nice! So glad you love it!