A melange of Asparagus and any Green Spring Vegetable you’d like

Asparagus season is here and we can’t get enough of the stuff. I’ve already served it in last year’s spicy stir-fry with chiles. http://chewingthefat.us.com/2011/05/spicy-pork-with-asparagus-and-chile.htmld. And then as a dinner salad that makes a meatless meal  http://chewingthefat.us.com/2011/05/spicy-pork-with-asparagus-and-chile.htmland then of course, there’s roasted asparagus which can be served as a side dish,an appetizer or, adding an egg, a light supper: 

Asparagus was a key ingredient among several others. At a recent dinner party we gave, instead of offering up steamed, boiled or roasted asparagus exactly like everyone’s been eating it since asparagus season began, this gave us the chance to introduce it with several other Spring vegetables. The result is a side dish that looks like you went to an inordinate amount of trouble to make.  In fact, it’s amazingly easy.  And what I also discovered was this is an incredibly adaptable recipe and that you can use virtually any green vegetable you’d like.

You may wonder what the Scamorza is La Cucina’s recipe. Scamorza is an Italian cow’s milk cheese that is similar to mozzarella. I could not find it even in the substantial cheese department at our local supermarket.  However, La Cucina insisted that smoked mozzarella would be a reasonable substitute.  You can see the smoked mozzarella topping the first version I made of the dish.  The second time, I really saw no need for the cheese.  I left it out and I can’t say that I missed it.  I’ll leave it in our recipe and let you decide.

        

The Fava Bean, a lot of work for not a lot of flavor

Aside from its appearance in  “Silence of the Lambs”, the original Hannibal Lector movie, the Fava Bean is fairly unknown around our house.  I now know why.  The hairy pod of the Fava conceals surprisingly few ear-shaped beans.  And while you might think that retrieving them from their husk would be all they’d require, not so. They have shell over the bean that has to be peeled and the bean removed.  That seems like an awful lot of work for something that doesn’t pack a lot of flavor.  The second go ‘round I opted for Edaname instead, the nicely packaged version where everything’s been peeled for you.  The two are amazingly similar from a nutritional standpoint.  But the edaname actually outpaces the Fava for both protein and fiber.  I’ve used both haricots verts and good old string beans and both work.  I highly recommend keeping the petits pois  in the recipe, they add a sweetness that’s a good counterpoint to the asparagus. Finally, the chili oil is very much a matter of taste. The minimal quantity in the original recipe didn’t bring much to the party. So the second go round, I upped the amount of red chile pepper flakes.  The dish was served warm, the leftovers, cold.   Either way it was a total winner.  Here’s the recipe:

Recipe for Green Spring Salad with Spicy Olive Oil from La Cucina Italiana Magazin

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

Fine sea salt

1 1/3 cups shelled fava beans (from about 2 pounds in pods) 

1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise 

1 1/2 cups shelled peas (from 1½ to 2 pounds in pods) or frozen peas, not thawed

8 medium asparagus spears, trimmed, cut crosswise into quarters, tips cut in half lengthwise

7 cups loosely packed baby arugula

2 1/2 ounces smoked scamorza, smoked mozzarella or aged smoked cheddar cheese, grated on large holes of box grater (about 1 1/3 cups)

In a small saucepan, combine oil and red pepper flakes; heat over medium-low heat just until oil is warm and bubbles break the surface; remove from heat and set aside to cool. 

Bring a large saucepan salted water to a boil; add fava beans and cook for 1 minute; reserving pot of water, transfer beans with slotted spoon to a colander, then cool under cold running water to stop cooking. Drain beans, then gently peel and discard skins. 

Add green beans and peas to boiling water; cook 2 minutes, then add asparagus. Cook 2 minutes more. Drain vegetables, transfer to colander and let cool slightly, 5 minutes. 

Place arugula in a large, wide serving bowl. Add fava and green beans, peas, asparagus, half of the cheese and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Strain oil through a fine-mesh sieve over salad; toss to combine. Divide salad among serving plates. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.