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Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

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This salad is like spring in a bowl. So mush freshness, fruitiness but also savoury goodness. Super easy to make, full of vitamins, perfect side dish or light main course. Absolutely in love!

Spring honestly is my favourite season. Everything is starting to bloom and coming back to life. Flowers are so colourful and the markets are full of fresh fruits and vegetables. Including two of my favourites: Asparagus and strawberries.

How we typically eat Asparagus

Asparagus is something very typical in Austria. We usually have it with Risotto, as a side or very very typical with potatoes, ham and molten butter or sauce hollandaise. But while this is good once in a while I feel like it is really heavy and not healthy in the long term. This salad, on the other hand is something very light and refreshing.

Which Asparagus works best?

Definitely a mix! Use some white stalks and some greens because the combination of the slightly different flavours is just super good! If you want, you can also use purple asparagus although I would not necessarily recommend to buy it extra for this. I have tried it out with purple asparagus but it lost its colour while cooking and turned green. So it was a bit of a pity.

How to cook asparagus?

This actually is not as easy as many people think. I mean it is to hard but you just need to know how. Green Asparagus is super easy. You just need to cut off the ends of the stalks and boil it in salted water for about 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. White asparagus is slightly different. It also needs some boiling water, you need to salt it, and add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of sugar. This takes out the bitterness of the asparagus and makes it really good!

Do you need to peel asparagus?

Depends. Green asparagus does not need to be peeled. Neither does purple one. White one on the other hand needs to be peeled!! Generously! I would recommend to peel it twice. If it is not peeled well it will have strings when eating and that’s not good tbh.

Fruit in salad?

A big YES!!! This is game changing! Especially the combination of strawberries and asparagus is insane! The sweetness of the strawberry pairs perfectly well with the freshness of the asparagus. If you do not have strawberries on hand or do not like them, you can add in raspberries instead, which also must taste really good!

Other add-ins:

Here you can be really creative! What would 100% work well is some kind of cheese like mozzarella, burrata cheese, cottage cheese or feta. Those would make it really good! Also, grilled chicken breast or prawns would take this next level but also hard boiled eggs.

When & how to eat it?

You can have this as a nice side dish and leave it as is or make a little more and add in something like hard boiled eggs for example and enjoy it with some freshly toasted bread or couscous to have it as a filling salad!

I hope that you like this recipe as much as I do and that you will make it many times this spring!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

Not your average asparagus side dish but much better! Sweetness of the strawberries paired with the taste of fresh asparagus is just heaavenly!

Course Appetizer, lunch, Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 sides
Calories 149 kcal

What you will need

  • 500 g white asparagus
  • 500 g asparagus
  • 500 g strawberries
  • 2 spring onions
  • 1 handful mint
  • 1 handful basil
  • 1 handful parsley
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp maple or honey
  • 1 tbsp butter or magarine
  • 1 tsp sugar

How to

  1. Bring a large pot with water to a boil. Peel the white asparagus generously (about 2x). Cut the ends (about 3cm) of both, white and green asparagus and throw them away. Cut the asparagus into about 3-4cm sized pieces.

    Add the butter (or magarine) and sugar into the boiling water and salt it. Add in the white asparagus and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add in the green asparagus and cook for another 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. You can test if they are ready by pieking through them with a fork. If they almost fall off the fork, they are done. Then drain them.

  2. In the meantime remove the green part from the strawberries and half them or cut them into quarters, depending on how big they are. Slice the spring onions and seperate the onion rings from each other.

  3. Roughly chop up the basil, mint and parsley.

  4. Add the asparagus, strawberries, spring onions and herbs into a bowl. In a seperate small bowl combine the olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon and the maple syrup. Toss the salad in the dressing and serve!

    Enjoy!

Notes

If you want to have it as a main dish just make more (about half more, so 6 servings for 4 people). You can then also add in other things like hard boiled eggs, feta or mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken breast or prawns! 

Oven baked Sweet Potato Fries

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Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. With a little hint of roasted garlic and paprika. Sprinkled with a little sea salt. That’s what I call the perfect side. No matter with what, a burger, a salad or just by itself. It is so good. And so simple. You will never want to go back to making sweet potatoes differently.

More Sweet Potato inspiration…

I absolutely love sweet potatoes. In any form. Baked as a whole and stuffed, mashed, boiled, fried, baked in little chunks or whatever. They are just so tasty! I already have a few recipes on my blog with it like the Miso sweet potato with coconut rice or the Thai sweet potato cauliflower soup or the fall tabouleh stuffed sweet potatoes (which honestly are so good) and one of my favourites, the harvest buddha bowl with apple chicken! But all of those were a while ago so I knew it was time to make something new.

Are sweet potatoes healthy?

Sweet Potatoes, as the name says, are potatoes, and taste very similar to regular ones, just a little sweeter. Because of that they are also sometimes used in desserts or sweet dishes. But they are just as common in savoury ones. They are extremely high in Fibre, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Protein. Plus, they are very high in antioxidants, meaning they support your gut healthy. All in all, super healthy.

How do you make them?

It‘s really simple! Cut into thin strips. They should be rather small and thin because this way they’ll get crispier in the oven. If you have the time for that I would recommend soaking the strips in water because that helps to remove some of the starch to make it crispier (this wasn’t my idea, i learned it at pickuplimes blog). And of course, you need to pat them dry afterwards, very dry, because obviously, water will make them soggy. Next step, which I do recommend, is tossing them in a little cornstarch. I also love making this with my tofu (like in my vegan glas boodle salad recipe) because it really binds the water in the food. 

Spice it up!!

Next up: spices! This is really important because the key to good food are good spices! The spices used really depend on what you serve the potatoes with. For example, if we serve it with a burger, I would recommend using paprika and garlic. If it is a side to some grilled halloumi, some herbs like rosemary and oregano work really well. If you are making wedges and want to make them a bit extra (in winter this is so good!), you can add some cinnamon. This surprisingly works really well!

Tossing them in spices is really essential. They add so much flavour. So last on the list is some oil. I would recommend using olive oil or another one that is neutral in taste. The oil adds more flavour and helps crisping them up. The potatoes are now baked on very high heat in the oven, for really not long. After taking them out, you can sprinkle some sea salt and serve them with a delicious sauce.

Why not frying them?

The reason we are making them in the oven is fairly simple. Because it is way healthier. While they do get a little crispier when deep fried, they also soak up way more oil. This means way more fat and calories. Of course, once in a while it is super good, but when making it more often, baking them in the oven is just way healthier.

I hope that you will love this recipe as much as I do and your family or friends do so too. In our house, they are always gone, and not a single fry is a leftover! Enjoy!

Happy Cooking,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Sweet Potato Fries from the Oven

Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and perfectly spiced! The ideal side for anything!

Course lunch, Side Dish
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 sides
Calories 230 kcal

What you will need

  • 600-800 g Sweet Potatoes 2 smaller ones or 1 big one
  • 3 tbsp corn starch
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 3 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • some sea salt

How to

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.

    Wash the sweet potatoes. Cut them into about 1cm thick strips, about 8cm in length. Place them in a large bowl and cover with water. Let sit for at least 5-10 minutes. This helps to remove the starch.

    Drain them and place on a kitchen towel or kitchen paper and tap them dry. They need to be really dry.

    Place them in a clean bowl and toss with the cornstarch and spices.

    Spread them onto two baking trays and make sure they have enough space. They should not touch each other. Drizzle the olive oil and add the garlic cloves (they do not need to be peeled). Sprinkle some salt on top.

    Bake for 10 minutes, then flip them. Bake for another 5-8 minutes. Take out and serve. Enjoy!

    P.s.: If you want, you can squish out the garlic from the peel and mix with some mayonaise to get a garlic dip!

Best Cauliflower and Parmesan salad with Parsley vinaigrette

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Nothing beats a good side to go along with any meal. Adds the extra wow and takes anything to the next level. Just like this cauliflower and Parmesan salad. Its one of these non- boring but super easy sides that you will start wanting to make with everything.

I git the inspiration for this dish when I was out eating at a restaurant in Dubai. I order a side, a veggie salad and something really similar to this recipe arrive, and it was bomb amazing. I knew I had to recreate it but at first I wondered if anyone else would like it because I have a taste for very healthy things that barely anyone likes but my family loved it too! They enjoyed the recreation even more. 

Salads are always a great side dish, i believe. They are light, refreshing, and full  of vitamins. Just as this salad is, just without the greens. And it will even get people who don‘t enjoy eating vegetables a lot, to eat it because the parmesan in the dish really turns everything around. It does not taste super healthy anymore. 

And let me tell you so much, it is ready in 5 minutes. At least if you have a food processor, if you don‘t then you probably need 10. yes, it is that simple. You can just prepare it while your fish is sizzling in the pan or somethings roasting in the oven. The making, essentially is, cutting the cauliflower into really fine chunks, or pulse it in the food processor because it will save you a lot of time. Other, you simply need to grate some parmesan cheese and chop it even a bit smaller, finely chop some parsley and combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette. And its done. 

This „salad“ goes best with a simple main dish. A baked fish or a grilled chicken breast or anything Italian inspired because the cheese in the cauliflower salad matches the Italian spices a lot. Surprisingly, it even gies well with some asian inspired dishes such as my steamed salmon in chili lime sauce. It really works with most dishes, but these are the ones I would recommend! 

It also works for meal prep if you want to prepare it ahead of time and enjoy it throughout the week! Just, do not add the vinaigrette before, only when you want to eat it because otherwise it will get soggy and wont taste as good anymore! 

I hope that you will enjoy this recipe and make it oftentimes because it really is that good! 

Enjoy,

Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Best Cauliflower and Parmesan Salad with Parsley Vinaigrette

Not your average side but much better. fresh cauliflower, hearty parmesan cheese, light and herby vinaigrette. Goes perfect with anything. A must.

Course Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Total Time 5 Minuten
Servings 4 sides
Calories 142 kcal

What you will need

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 40 g parmesan cheese
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 large lemon, juiced
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

How to

That is how it works:

  1. Cut the cauliflower into small florets. If you have a food processor, place them in it and pulse until they are fine chunks. If you do not have one, finely chop them into rice-sized pieces and place them in a large bowl.

  2. Grate the parmesan on the rather large side. Then roughly chop it again, to also reach the size of the rice corn. Add it to the cauliflower and generously salt.

  3. In a small bowl combine the olive oil, parsley, honey and lemon juice. Toss the "salad" in the dressing.

    Serve in bowls and enjoy!

Potato and Asparagus Salad with herby vinaigrette

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Salad does not have to include greens and be boring all the time. By far not. As much as we love some refreshing and light salads, sometimes we are craving something more filling and heartier. Not saying it needs to be less healthy. Like this one. So good. So refreshing. So filling. Perfect lunch as is or ideal barbecue side! Amazing.

Spring is, fresh asparagus and fresh herbs for me. The colours and smell of them just really make one smile. Asparagus is so healthy and versatile too! You can make a soup, a risotto, just plain with potatoes or hollandaise sauce, whatever you want and it tastes amazing when prepared the right way.

Green, white or pink?

Asparagus is really high in fiber and has a reasonable amount of protein for a vegetable. Also, it is packed with folate and very low in calories. No matter, which one you prefer, white or green (or there even is pink one, which I have never tried but is super cool!), they are all pretty similar in nutrients. The white one just has a more intense asparagus taste, while the green one is milder. In this recipe I like to use both, because they add different flavours, textures and colours, but if you do not like either at all, you can only go with one type.

Are potatoes even healthy?

But asparagus is only half of the deal. As good as it is, it is not super filling. But since we want this to be a filling dish, with some good carbohydrates, we still need some potatoes. I know that there are a lot of saying that claim that carbs and potatoes are bad but they are not! They are loaded with incredibly nourishing vitamins, a lot of fiber and minerals. Potatoes actually are a super food! And Carbohydrates are everything else than unhealthy. They are the main source of energy for our bodies, which means they should make up more than half of our diet. They are essential for us!

Which potatoes should I use?

The best potatoes for this recipe are baby potatoes (Bauernkartoffel in German). Why? Because you can eat them with the skin on and they are small. Therefore you do not have to peel them or cut them smaller, which is way more convenient. If you cannot find them anywhere, you can substitute them with others, but it will be lot more work.

Last but not least: the perfect vinaigrette

What would a salad be without a decent vinaigrette? Not a salad, just some veggies. I believe that in most dishes, the real flavour comes down to the sauces. Just like here. You could cover everything with a hollandaise sauce but this would not just make it pretty unhealthy but also would not taste as good. The vinaigrette here is very simple and rather light. It is a mix of lemon juice, parsley and olive oil. The lemon and a freshness, the herbs some greens and flavour and the olive oil helps the potatoes not to stick together and also adds a bunch of flavour. Together it tastes amazing and so fresh. The combination with the asparagus, potatoes, and dishes is just amazing!

When and how should we eat it?

You can enjoy this salad when it still is warm or you can also enjoy it cold, which makes it a great leftover. Unlike most salads, you can add the vinaigrette here beforehand (if you want to repurpose it as a leftover) and do not have to wait until just before you want to eat it. If you want, this can be a main dish, and if you wish you could add some boiled eggs or cottage cheese to it. But this also works great as a side dish that packs carb and veggies in one! Love to serve this at a barbecue or with a nice piece of meat or fish!

I hope that you enjoy this recipe and will have fun cooking!
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Potato and Asparagus Salad with herby vinaigrette

A super refreshing and delicious spring salad that will nourrish you and fill you up! Soft potatoes with some delish asparagus and a refreshing herb vinaigrette! Toatlly delish!

Course Appetizer, dinner, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 sides
Calories 199 kcal

What you will need

  • 600 g baby potatoes
  • 600 g asparagus (mixed white and green)
  • 100 g radishes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • juice from 1 small or 1/2 large lemon
  • 1 tbsp parsley chopped
  • 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 tbsp sugar

How to

  1. Bring two pots with water to a boil. Salt both. In one pot add the baby potatoes and boild for 20 minutes.

    In the meantime, generously peel the white asparagus, about 2 times around the stalk. Chop about 2 cm off the ends of both, green and white asparagus.

    In the empty pot add the butter and sugar and the white asparagus. Let this boil for about 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. Then add in the green aspargus and cook for another 5 minutes. The total cooking time of the white asparagus is between 10 and 15 minutes.

  2. Once the potatoes are done cooking, let them cool a little bit. Then half them or cut them into three pieces. Add them into a bowl. Finely grate or chop the radishes and add aswell.

    When the asparagus is done cooking, also cut it into about 2-3 cm sized pieces and add them aswell. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper.

    In a bowl combine the parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. Add it to the other vegetables and mix through.

    Serve and enjoy!