Tangy Dill And Asparagus Spring Salad

It’s officially spring and I cannot be more excited! With spring comes a plethora of new seasonal fruits and veggies at our local super markets and farmers markets, which as a chef sparks so much creativity inside me. I was recently at the La Jolla Farmers market and came across a beautiful bunch of asparagus, dill, purple cabbage, and arugula that I had to take home to create something fresh and obviously delicious. When I got home, all I was craving was a salad with lots of greens, one that was easy and simple to make, but with lots of flavor, and of course packed with tons of vitamins and micro/macro nutrients.

Many salads are served cold, which you can do with this one, but I used the quinoa and veggies while they were still warm to have a warm veggie salad which are some of my favorite meals to have. The mix of cold dressing and greens mixed with warm grains and veggies just hits all the spots for me, and I hope it will do the same for you.

By utilizing the best of each spring harvest, this salad embraces seasonal eating which helps keep your food from traveling further, which helps everything retain more of their nutrients, which means better for you and for the planet.

This recipe is:

• packed with clean plant protein

• tangy and delicious

• simple and easy

• dairy free & gluten free

• served warm or cold

• perfect for high protein meal prep

Tag me over @chef_bai and I’ll repost for some extra love! Do you love warm or cold salads? Let me know in the comments!

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Makes 4 salads:

The Goods:

For the asparagus & garbanzo beans:

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 1 bunch asparagus, ends removed

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained

• 1 tsp granulated garlic

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp fennel seeds

• 1/2 black pepper

• 1 tsp lemon zest

• 2 tbsp water

For the dressing:

• 1/4 cup unsweetened plain coconut yogurt

• 1/4 cup agave

• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

For the salads:

• 3 cups arugula

• 1/2 cup minced dill

• 1 cup thinly sliced and/or minced purple cabbage

• 1/2 cup vegan feta, crumbled

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked to package instructions

• lemon wedges

The Method:

1. First, cook your quinoa to package instructions. If you are meal prepping your salads in jars, make sure your grains are completely cooled before using them. If you are just making a salad to eat right now, you can use warm or cooled quinoa/veggies, up to your desired preferences.

2. Heat a cast iron skillet on medium high heat with olive oil. Once hot, add the asparagus, salt, and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Next toss in the garbanzo beans, garlic, thyme, fennel, pepper, lemon zest and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, but while it’s still hot, grab a lid that fits over the skillet and pour in 2 tbsp of water and quickly cover the veggies to steam for 3-5 minutes. Set aside.

3. Grab a small mason jar to make your dressing. Add the coconut yogurt, agave, dijon mustard into the mason jar and stir with a spoon until you have a smooth consistency. Set aside.

4. To serve the entire salad at once, simply grab a large salad bowl and toss in the arugula, dill, purple cabbage, vegan feta, cooked (cooled or warm) quinoa, your sautéed (cooled or warm) veggies from the skillet, and mix until you have a beautiful colorful spring salad. Now toss the pre-mixed salad with all the dressing until everything is coated, and serve immediately with a lemon wedge.

5. Bai’s Tip: This makes a really big salad (3-5 servings) so if you are not planning on eating all of it at once, make sure your quinoa is cooled, your veggies are cooled, and leave out the dressing in the mixing process, but only garnish the dressing to each serving of salad - Otherwise if you mix warm quinoa, warm veggies, the dressing together and try to eat this salad in a day or two, the arugula can get very wilted and it won’t be very good.

6. ***If building mason jar salads, grab 4 (32oz) mason jars and make sure all the veggies and grains are cooled completely. Distribute the dressing evenly to the bottom of each mason jar, then add the purple cabbage into the dressing, top with the cooled veggies (asparagus & beans), the cooled quinoa, vegan feta crumbles, minced dill, and end with the arugula on top. Garnish each salad with a wedge of lemon, and cap with a lid to store in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Thanks so much for checking out our recipes! I hope you find something here that satisfies your cravings or encourages you to try something new. Make sure to check back every week to see our new recipes!

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