This chilled asparagus recipe is perfect for making and serving in warm weather. The asparagus are steamed until tender, and then they’re combined with a delicious and easy-to-make vinaigrette. A brief stint in the refrigerator will get them nice and cold, and then they’re ready to serve. Think of this as a cold vegetable salad. Alternately, you can steam the asparagus ahead of time, chill and assemble when ready.
How to steam asparagus on the stove:
Place your trimmed asparagus in the top half of a steamer pan set. Steam for 5 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the asparagus, or until the asparagus are tender.
How to cook asparagus in the microwave:
Alternately, you can cook the asparagus in the microwave. Arrange the asparagus spoke-like on a 12-inch round glass platter or pie plate with stem ends toward outside of platter. Cover with heavy-duty plastic wrap, and vent. Microwave at HIGH 4 minutes or until crisp-tender, rotating the platter a half-turn after 2 minutes. Let stand, covered, 2 minutes.
How to make Feta Vinaigrette:
Combine feta cheese crumbles, lemon juice, orange juice, water, Dijon mustard, vegetable oil, and hot sauce. That’s your vinaigrette for these chilled asparagus.
How to choose the best asparagus:
Look for bright green, thinner asparagus with healthy, closed tips. Asparagus with thicker stems tend to be rather tough, and then you have to break off a good portion of the stem. If you do happen to have pretty thick stems, go ahead and break off the end of the stem, and you can also use a potato peeler to peel down the stem so it’s not so thick.
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers program, this is a good recipe for you! Each serving of Chilled Asparagus with Feta Vinaigrette counts as 2 points on any color WW plan. If you’re not following the plan, just consider this a nice, healthy asparagus side dish recipe. Enjoy!
Here are a few more asparagus recipes you might like to try:
Citrus Roasted Asparagus Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Browned Butter Red Pepper Confetti Asparagus Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries Balsamic Roasted Asparagus Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Sautéed Asparagus with Butter and Parmesan Pan Roasted Asparagus with Thyme
