Green asparagus & strawberry salad with arugula

Just a quick post, since I'm super busy getting everything ready before leaving for Canada next week.

I made this green asparagus & strawberry salad last night. I didn't  have high hopes, but have to say it turned out really good. Both go very well together and a the arugula adds a nice spicyness.

Look closely and you may spot some of the hollandaise sauce and balsamico...

I sliced the strawberries and had them marinate for a couple of minutes in a dash of 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar and black pepper. The amount of sugar depends on how many strawberries, how sweet they are already and whatever you prefer. 

In the meantime I steamed the asparagus and wahsed the arugula.

Salt the asparagus, then pour asparagus, strawberries and arugula in a bowl and mix. 

Season everything with salt and pepper, if necessary.

I made my quick sauce hollandaise to pour over the salad, not the whole amount, though, that would have been too much...half maybe, or even less (you can find the recipe here!). Together with balsamico vinegar sprinkled over it in the end it serves as a nice and rich salad dressing. You can also just use olive oil instead and add some grated parmesan or gruyere cheese. 

That is a little lighter, easier and less time consuming to prepare.

Enjoy, your ultimate spring salad!

Notes: 

I already knew that strawberries taste really well with balsamico and/or pepper. But, boy, it's the first time I noticed how nicely they taste with a bit of salt...

Barbecue No2! or How to trick myself into liking salad...

After a long and exciting day on Schmachtenhagen's farmers market with our friends Anna and Beau we came home with tons of meat, some sausages, fresh warm sourdough bread, an ice machine that I bought for 10 bucks at the flea market there and a giant headache from all the beer we drank...

Nevertheless our hibachi was already waiting for us.

As soon as we got home we fired the grill and threw on some sausages and sirloins.

In order to have our dinner plates look more colourful and a bit healthier I decided to make a classic salad with lamb's lettuce, tomatos, cheese and avocados.

Ok. I have to admit I'm not a big salad fan. 

But with a few tricks and a bit of extra-pimping I manage to create one that even I don't mind eating.

First of all I caramelize the cherry tomatoes in butter adding a dash of sugar, salt and pepper.

Warm sweet tomatos in a salad taste insanely good!

Then of course adding roasted nuts (pine nuts and almonds preferably). 

You can't go wrong with crunchy roasted nuts! 

I also like adding Hass avocado cubes because of their creamy texture and fresh parmesan to sprinkle over it...

Very important, as well: good olive oil and balsamico vinegar.

Quality just tastes better! 

For example we bought 20 year old balsamico vinegar from our local Italian store.

That really makes a difference!

I can also highly recommend to do an olive oil degustation at some point.

You won't believe how different olive oil can taste!

I really like the greek ones. They taste very grassy and slightly bitter.

There you go! These are my tipps and tricks to make a simple salad more enjoyable.

You can also just add meat to it, though...

We drank a pretty decent French red wine with it: Chateau Capitoul Rocaille Rouge AOC

which contains the varietals syrah, grenache noir and carignan.

Artichoke with sour cream-mustard-balsamico dip

For everyone who thought my diet only consists of meat and chocolate, here is the proof that every so often even I consume green stuff with vitamins in it...

One of my favorite vegetables are artichokes.

They are a good side dish and perfect finger food.

I usually buy the big ones. I remove the stem and cut off the tips of the petals with a scissor. 

After that I throw them into a big pot of boiling water with a dash of lemon juice.

It depends on how big they are but usually artichokes need to cook for around 30-45 minutes.

You know the artichoke is ready to eat when you can easily pull off the outermost petals.

Unfortunately you usually cannot eat all parts of an artichoke. 

Especially the big ones are often hard and spiky.

Here are some instructions on how to eat them properly:

1. Start at the base of the artichoke, pull off one of the outermost petals. 
2. Dip the base of the petal into your sauce/vinaigrette. 
3. Pull the petal through your slightly clenched teeth to remove the soft, tender flesh at the bottom of the petal. As you progress upward from the base, the leaves become more tender, with larger edible portions until you reach the choke (the undeveloped flower).
4. Remove and discard the "hairy" choke using a teaspoon.
5. Cut the remaining Artichoke Heart into bite-sized pieces, dip and enjoy!

PS: For the dip mix sour cream, mustard, honey and balsamico vinegar and season with salt and pepper.