Salad with Pickled Ginger
6 spears green asparagus, trimmed
2 baby iceberg lettuces or 1 large one
Pinch salt
Handful of mint leaves, roughly torn
1 pink grapefruit, peeled and segmented
1 tbsp julienned pickled ginger
Dressing
500ml freshly squeezed pink grapefruit (from approx. 2 grapefruit)
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
100ml virgin olive oil
Salt & freshly ground pepper
Bring a saucepan of salted water to a simmer. Add the asparagus and blanch for a minute, then refresh in iced water. When cool, slice the asparagus on an angle into 2cm lengths. Break the baby iceberg into individual cups of lettuce (if using one large lettuce, cut or tear the leaves down to smaller pieces), then wash and dry well. Toss the lettuce and asparagus with just enough dressing to coat lightly and season with a pinch of salt. Arrange the salad in a large bowl and scatter with the mint, pink grapefruit segments and ginger threads.
For the dressing, pour the grapefruit juice into a small stainless-steel saucepan and simmer over moderate heat until reduced to 150ml. Remove from the heat and add the honey while the juice is still warm. Whisk well to incorporate, and then place in the fridge to cool. Transfer to a blender (or use a stick blender in a small container), add the vinegar and then, with the blender running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and white pepper
* recipe from Andrew McConnell, featured in our book, What's Old is New Again