Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas

This is a beautiful spring salad inspired by my wonderful foodie blogging friend Seana over at Cottage Grove House. She inspires me to make a lot of wonderful and healthy dishes. I didn’t have great hopes that my somewhat picky family would enjoy this, but I enjoyed the flavors of this immensely! “I like my asparagus steamed with butter,” said hubby. “It was OK, but there wasn’t much dressing on it,” said daughter. My daughter was at some event when I made this and wrapped a bowl and left it in the fridge for her for later. The lemon juice and oil was in a separate container next to it. She didn’t add any dressing to it! Ahhh, such is the life when introducing new foods and flavors. Nonetheless, I am sharing this recipe for you in hopes that others might see the bright flavors you could enjoy with such a salad.

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas
Adapted from Cottage Grove House recipe

1 bunch asparagus, washed and well-dried (tough ends removed)
1/4 cup green peas, fresh or frozen and thawed
1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) pine nuts
2 ounces feta, crumbled
1 big handful Spring Mix lettuce
Juice from half a lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper
Sea salt

Shave the asparagus into ribbons using a vegetable peeler by holding the base of the stalk with one hand and running the peeler down to the tip. Leave the tips whole to add to the salad. Rotate the asparagus 90 degrees each time you shave, until each stalk is shaved through. (Hint: buy the thicker asparagus, it’s much easier to shave.)

Bowl of Shaved Asparagus

Toss the asparagus ribbons with the peas, pine nuts, feta, and Spring Mix lettuce.

Asparagus Salad Ready for Spring Mix and Dressing

Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil over all, and season with fresh ground pepper and salt, to taste. Serve immediately.

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Spanakopita

Spanakopita

My sister made this wonderful authentic Greek dish for the family one night when she was here visiting last week. It was so much fun being able to snap some photos while she explained every step of the recipe and demonstrated the “technique” of this dish. This recipe came from her boyfriend’s mother who hailed from Greece, Zora St. Martin (her Greek maiden name was Zaharias, she married a French Canadian). Zora died about two years ago at age 88, and had a successful catering business in Newport, NH. Before she passed on she wrote down the recipe for her son, which I have shared below. As a bonus, she also included the recipe for Tiropita, which is similar to Spanakopita but doesn’t have spinach.

Spanakopita and Tiropita Recipes

The first thing my sister said before making this was to correct my pronunciation of the dish. I’ve been saying it wrong all these years! It is span-uh-KOH-pih-ta, NOT span-uh-koh-PEE-ta. This also makes a very large amount. She said whenever they cook this at home, they wrap up individual packages to give to friends. They actually have friends calling them asking them when they are going to make it again, it is that good! This also makes a wonderful breakfast or brunch. It took us a few days, but we ate every last bit of this! My sister also found some cute little lamb chops on sale at the store, which she marinated in soy sauce, honey, and red chile flakes and grilled them up as a nice “side” to the Spanakopita. Thank you Molly for an awesome dinner!

Spanakopita

1 package Filo (Phyllo) dough, thawed in refrigerator
3 10-ounce packages frozen spinach, thawed
1 bunch green onions
Handful of fresh dill sprigs
16-ounce container cottage cheese
24-ounces crumbled Feta cheese
6 well-beaten eggs
2 sticks melted butter (1/2 pound)

Spanakopita Ingredients

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the thawed spinach in a colander and squeeze out as much liquid as possible with your hands. Literally grab bunches of the spinach and wring it out like a wet washcloth. My sister demonstrated this beautifully:

Squeezing the Water Out of the Spinach

Chop the green onions…

Chopping the Green Onions

then mix them thoroughly with the spinach in a large bowl.

Mixing the Onion and Spinach

Mince the dill, then add to the spinach mixture along with the cottage and Feta cheeses and the beaten eggs. Combine thoroughly.

Spanakopita Filling

Brush a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with some of the butter. Layer 5 or 6 Filo sheets in the bottom of the pan, including up the sides.

First Layer of Filo Sheets

Press in 1/4 of the spinach mixture in an even layer.

First Layer of Spinach Mixture

Layer 3 or 4 more sheets of Filo, then coat with butter evenly with a brush.

Brushing the Filo with Butter

Repeat layers of spinach, Filo, and butter. The top layer should be at least 5 or 6 sheets of Filo. Pour any remaining butter over the top and brush around.

Brushing the Last of the Butter Over Top

Bake in the preheated heated oven for 45 minutes until the top is golden-brown. If it starts to get too brown you can lightly cover it with a piece of foil. After 45 minutes, turn oven down to 350 and bake for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven, and let sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

Spanakopita Out of the Oven!

While the Spanakopita was resting, these pretty babies were thrown onto the grill for a few minutes on each side.

Marinating Lamb Chops

Dinner is served!

Spanakopita and Lamb Chop Dinner

 

 

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