Asparagus Pepper Salad

It's been a while I had made Pasta at home.so I had a trip to the grocery store to pick my favorite veggies to go with pasta and also the pasta itself. I found these colorful Penne Rigate which has 3 colors; red, green and yellow. So I wanted to cook it with the same colors of veggies... LOL right. That is me. I love colors and I believe that the food that you cook should not only be tasty but also should look good. I picked red, yellow bell pepper which are my favorites with pasta. Then for green I bought zucchini to make the dish more Italian. Then I found this beautiful, fresh asparagus. We love to eat Asparagus as a side to pasta.So I picked that too.The Asparagus I bought has thin stems so I was able to use most of it.if the stems are thick they could be fibrous.

So that's the story behind making this colorful salad. At first I thought I will blanch the Asparagus and drizzle it with olive oil, salt n pepper and just eat like that but then I have these tempting colorful veggies posing  in front of me. So went one step ahead and created this Asparagus pepper salad.I wanted to keep this salad next to my pasta and take a photo. But before the pasta was done my husband made a feast out of the salad:-(. Yes! It was that good.

Nutrition: peppers, asparagus are rich in vitamin A and C . Also are good source of B6 vitamin.Rich in antioxidants. Together all these veggies are fiber rich. Fiber helps lower bad cholestrol, also controls blood sugar levels. Relieves constipation issues. Antoxidants help removing free radicals( toxins) from your body. Also keeps you younger looking for long time. Avocado is a fat rich food which lowers bad cholestrol. Funny ha! It has a good amount of unsaturated/ good fats. Rich in fiber, C and K vitamin.So isn't it worth eating 5 a day, atleast 4 with this recipe.

I have added Avocado to the salad but if you do not have it handy it's ok to skip it.I didn't put any dressing on the salad. Asparagus goes with lemon juice or vinegar. But my peppers felt little sour so I skipped the dressing part.Try this fiber rich cholestrol reducing salad as it is or accompanied by my Pasta recipes.By the way I have used the Avocado shell to present my recipe.Isn't it beautiful.

Servings:
Two (2)
Total time:
15-20 minutes
Category:
Salads/Soups/Stews
Author:
Praveena Gudipati

Ingredients: (I use US standard measuring; 1cup=8oz=250ml)
1 bunch Asparagus
1/2 Red pepper
1/2 Yellow Pepper
1/2 Avocado-1 Avocado
Salt
Pepper
2 teaspoon Olive oil

Asparagus Pepper Salad step-by-step Recipe with Photos

1. Put a vessel of water for boiling.We will blanch asparagus in this water.
   
2. What is Blanching:  vegetables are cooked by adding them to to a vessel of boiling water.Then the water is drained and ice water is added to the vegetable which is called shocking. Shocking stops the cooking process.This keeps the vegetables cooked but still crispy and also retains the colors.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the water.Do not forget this part.
4. Asparagus Prep: The bottom 1/3 part of asparagus is fibrous hence not good for salads. Cut or snap Asparagus and keep the top 2/3 rd aside. 
   
   
   
   
5. Chop this part into 3 pieces depending on the size. My idea is to keep em bite sized. You can leave em just like that too.
   
6. Add chopped asparagud to the water. Cook for 4-5 minutes.After 4 minutes taste one asparagus (remember they are hot). If you think they are cooked ,drain the asparagus  into a colander.I did not add ice but I rinsed the asparagus with tap water.Keep em on your serving pate. 
   
   
   
   
7. Chop peppers as shown below.Heat a pan with 2 teaspoon Olive oil. Sauté the peppers for 3 minutes.Peppers will be still crisp but little soft.
   
   
   
   
8. Add to the asparagus.
   
9. Cut an Avocado into half by going around but not in the middle as there is a big seed. Now take a spoon and scoop it out.Chop it into bite size cubes. add to the plate.I have used 1/2 Avocado.You can also use the whole Avocado.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Now season everything with little salt n pepper.You can also add some dressing if you like.
    
11. Serve as a side with Pasta or as it is.My photo doesn’t show much Asparagus as I munched on some when they were done :-) :-).
    

Tips: 

• Try using fresh vegetables for salad.
• You can also add other vegetables of your choice.

Related Recipes:

• Cream of Broccoli soup
• Sweet corn Soup
• Simple Ranch salad
•  Penne Rigate alfredo
• home made Alfredo sauce
• Fettucine Alfredo