Asparagus Ribbons with Lemon Parmesan Dressing

With the ridiculous heat we've been having here lately (not that I'm complaining one bit about it!), I thought I'd post a recipe that doesn't require turning on the oven or grill. I know it's not really asparagus season here anymore, but if you can still find some tasty asparagus at the grocery store, why not try something different with it?

I love roasted or grilled asparagus as much as the next person (assuming everyone loves it of course, since I can't see why you wouldn't), so I didn't expect to like this dish because the asparagus is not cooked at all. I've tried a bite of raw asparagus before out of curiosity, and it was not very pleasant. But I decided to go ahead with the recipe, mostly because making asparagus ribbons sounded like so much fun! (Although when your life involves sitting in front of a computer doing research all day, organizing your sock drawer can seem like fun in comparison.)

All you do is take a vegetable peeler and peel the asparagus stalks into thin strips. You end up with a mountain of ribbons that look so pretty you won't even want to eat them, but once you add the dressing they reduce in size and turn into a lovely looking little salad. I ended up being so pleasantly surprised that the asparagus soaked up the lemony dressing so it tasted delicious, but still maintained a bit of crunch instead of getting wilted. Plus, it's so easy to throw together, yet elegant enough to impress all your friends. Not that I had any friends over to test this on, but Gen was impressed and she has high standards when it comes to food, so I assume others would also love this.

Since I was just making one serving for myself (I'm really making it seem like I have no friends here), I didn't really measure anything out, but the recipe is over at Bon Appetit so you can adjust it according to however many people you're serving.

I can't wait to try other ways to eat asparagus ribbons, like Cooking Light's asparagus ribbons with lemon and goat cheese, or Cooking Canuck's shaved asparagus salad with balsamic syrup and almonds. The ribbon method also works well on zucchini and squash - vegetables are just so much more fun when you eat them in unexpected ways!