Grilled green asparagus with white peach and spelt salad from Veni, vidi, veggie
As soon as you hear the words ‘white peach’, you know: it’s spring. And this dish by Geneal Harreman, from his wonderful vegetable cookbook Veni, vidi, veggie, lets you feel that on your plate too. Fresh flavors, a touch of sweetness, juicy grilled peaches and green asparagus – finished with a creamy cashew-garlic sauce.
Not a little side dish, but a star dish that you can easily pack for work or take along to a sunny picnic in the park. You can optionally replace the white peaches with nectarines, plums or regular peaches.
Geneal: ‘Lots of fresh flavors with a touch of sweetness here and there’
Geneal: ‘The freshness of white peach combined with grilled green asparagus screams spring. I’m completely happy with cooked grains such as spelt and quinoa, which you can mix with all kinds of delicious ingredients to make a salad. Here I chose, among other things, pomegranate, tarragon, basil, chives and dried apricots. Lots of fresh flavors, with a touch of sweetness here and there. The sauce is made with raw cashews and garlic, powerful in flavor and packed with good fats for a substantial energy boost.’
How to make grilled green asparagus with white peach and spelt salad
- Wash the spelt in a bowl filled with plenty of water and drain. Fill the bowl with the spelt with water again and leave to soak overnight. Drain the next day.
- Put the soaked spelt in a pan of water and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes until the spelt is tender but still has some bite. In another pan of water, bring the quinoa to a boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain both grains when cooked and rinse with cold water until cooled.
- Roughly chop the leaves of the tarragon and basil, finely chop the chives and mix in a bowl with the spelt and quinoa. Cut the dried apricots into small cubes and add them to the salad together with the pomegranate seeds.
- In a bowl, make a vinaigrette with the lime juice, sushi vinegar and 35 milli-liters of olive oil. Season the salad with it and add salt and pepper to taste.
- In a blender, blend the cashews and garlic together with 250 milliliters of water until it starts to thicken slightly.
- Cut the crusts off the bread (save them if desired to make croutons) and cut the bread into coarse pieces. Roughly chop the white onion. Add them to the blender together with the bread. Blend everything into a thick sauce and season with the sherry vinegar, salt and pepper.
- Heat a grill or grill pan over medium heat. Cut off the woody ends of the green asparagus, coat with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes on both sides until cooked.
- Use a small knife to cut around the pit of the white peach and twist the 2 halves apart. Remove the pit and cut the white peach halves into small wedges. Repeat with the other peaches. Coat them with a little olive oil and place the wedges on the grill as well. Grill the white peaches for 2 to 3 minutes until the wedges have attractive grill marks.
- Halve the olives. Use the back of a spoon to make a mirror of cashew sauce on each plate and spoon the dressed spelt salad on top. Add the grilled asparagus and peaches and finish with the olives.
About the cookbook: Veni, vidi, veggie
Geneal Harreman worked at top restaurants such as Vermeer, De Kas and RIJKS and can now be seen as a TV chef on BinnensteBuiten. In his debut cookbook Veni, vidi, veggie, he shows how vegetables deserve the starring role. Not an ‘obligation’, but knockout dishes in ten chapters centered around ten popular vegetables.
Title: Veni, vidi, veggie. 60 vegetable recipes to steal the show with
Author: Geneal Harreman
Price: €29.99
Publisher: Nijgh Cuisine
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