Shaved Asparagus Salad With Lemon and Parmesan

A vegetable peeler turns asparagus into silky ribbons. It is the easiest spring salad we know, and it might change the way you think about a vegetable most of us only ever roast or steam. Raw, thinly shaved asparagus tastes sweet, grassy and fresh, a little like snap peas with a gentle crunch. Toss it with peppery arugula, a bright lemon dressing and plenty of salty Parmesan, and you have a bowl that looks like it came from a restaurant but takes ten minutes and never touches the stove.

Prep 10 min · Cook 0 min · Serves 4

Choosing the right asparagus

This is one recipe where thicker really is better. Pencil-thin spears are lovely for roasting, but they are almost impossible to shave and tend to snap into short, stubby pieces. Look for fat spears, roughly the width of your thumb, with firm stalks and tightly closed tips. The cut ends should look moist, not dry or woody, and the spears should squeak a little when you squeeze the bunch together.

Spring is the best time to buy, when local asparagus fills the stands from roughly April through early June in much of the country. Farmers markets often sell it just hours after harvest, and you can taste the difference. Asparagus starts converting its natural sugars into starch soon after it is cut, so the fresher it is, the sweeter your salad will be. If you need to store it for a day or two, trim the ends and stand the spears upright in a jar with an inch of water, like a bouquet, then loosely cover the tops and refrigerate.

Ingredients

• 1 lb thick asparagus
• 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• A chunk of Parmesan
• 1/4 cup toasted almonds
• Arugula

You will also need flaky salt and fresh black pepper. A couple of generous handfuls of arugula is plenty for four people; you want it to support the asparagus, not bury it. Buy Parmesan in a wedge rather than pre-grated, because you will be shaving it into wide, thin curls with the same peeler you use on the asparagus.

How to make it

1. Shave the asparagus into long ribbons with a peeler.
2. Toss with the arugula, lemon juice, olive oil and salt.
3. Shave Parmesan over the top and scatter with almonds.

The shaving technique

Snap or trim off the tough bottom inch of each spear first. Then lay a spear flat on a cutting board, hold it firmly by the tip end, and pull a Y-shaped peeler from just below the tip down to the base. Press gently and let the peeler do the work. Turn the spear over and repeat until it gets too thin to hold, usually after five or six strokes. Save those leftover skinny centers and the tips; slice them thin and add them to the bowl so nothing goes to waste.

A Y-peeler is much easier to control than a swivel peeler for this job, and it is one of the most useful inexpensive tools you can own. If you have a mandoline, you can use it too, but please use the hand guard. Ribbons from a mandoline come out more uniform but a little thicker.

Dressing at the last minute

Raw asparagus holds up better than lettuce, but the lemon juice will still begin to soften the ribbons as they sit. For the crispest salad, keep the shaved asparagus in a bowl of ice water for up to an hour, spin it dry, and dress it right before serving. The ice bath also makes the ribbons curl beautifully, which looks lovely piled on a platter.

Building a better dressing

The dressing here is simple on purpose: juice of one lemon, 3 tablespoons good olive oil and salt. Because there is so little going on, quality matters. Use a fruity extra-virgin olive oil you enjoy tasting on its own, and squeeze the lemon fresh. Taste a ribbon after tossing and adjust. You may want more salt than you expect, since raw vegetables need it to really come alive.

If you want to dress it up a little, here are a few additions our test kitchen likes:

• A finely grated small garlic clove whisked into the lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard to help the dressing cling
• A drizzle of honey to balance very tart lemons
• Grated lemon zest for an extra burst of fragrance
• A handful of torn mint or basil leaves

Toast the almonds yourself if you can. Spread sliced or slivered almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat and stir often for 3 to 4 minutes, until they smell nutty and turn light golden. Pour them onto a plate right away so they do not keep cooking in the hot pan.

Make it your own

Serve it next to grilled salmon for an easy spring dinner.

Recipe tester Molly Grant

Molly’s favorite pairing is a good one because the bright, crunchy salad cuts through the richness of the fish. It also works next to roast chicken, grilled steak or a simple frittata for brunch. To turn the salad itself into a full meal, try adding:

• A soft-boiled or poached egg on each plate
• Cooked white beans or chickpeas for extra protein
• Shaved radishes and fresh peas for more spring color
• Crispy prosciutto, if you are not keeping it vegetarian
• A scoop of cooked farro or quinoa under the greens

Serving and storing

This salad is best eaten within an hour of dressing it. If you are bringing it to a potluck or a picnic, pack the ribbons, the arugula, the dressing and the toppings separately, then toss everything together when you arrive. It makes a striking first course for a dinner party, too, especially when you pile the ribbons high on a large platter and shower them with Parmesan right at the table.

Undressed asparagus ribbons keep for a day in an airtight container lined with a damp paper towel. Leftover dressed salad will soften overnight, but it is still tasty stirred into warm pasta with a little more olive oil and cheese, or folded into an omelet the next morning.

Other vegetables that shave beautifully

Once you own a good peeler, the same idea works far beyond asparagus. Long ribbons of zucchini and yellow squash make a lovely summer version of this salad, especially with fresh basil instead of arugula. Carrots shaved into thin curls are sweet and crunchy, and they look wonderful tossed with a little orange juice, olive oil and toasted sesame seeds. Fennel bulb, sliced paper-thin, brings a gentle licorice note that pairs perfectly with lemon and Parmesan. In the fall, try thin ribbons of raw Brussels sprouts or shaved celery root with apples and walnuts. The rule of thumb is simple: choose firm, fresh vegetables, shave them as thin as you can, season well with salt and acid, and add something rich and something crunchy. That formula turns almost any crisp vegetable into a bright, restaurant-style salad in minutes, and it is a great way to use up whatever is left in the produce drawer at the end of the week.

Key takeaway: Buy thick, fresh spears, shave them with a Y-peeler and dress them just before serving for the crispest, sweetest ribbons.

A salad worth waiting for each spring

Some recipes are about technique and patience. This one is about letting a great seasonal ingredient shine with almost no effort. Once you have shaved your first bunch of asparagus, you will start to see other vegetables differently: zucchini, carrots and fennel all make wonderful raw ribbons too. Add this salad to your weekly meal plan while asparagus season lasts, and use the servings scaler on the recipe card if you are feeding a bigger crowd.