Asparagus and Raspberries – yes, really!

Now putting asparagus and raspberries together would never have occurred to me until I saw it in a recipe book.  Not only do the colours look pretty the taste works too!

Ingredients:

Thin asparagus spears

2 tblsp vinegar (preferable raspberry)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp of mustard (preferable Dijon)

1 ½ tblsp vegetable oil

½ tblsp sour cream

White pepper

Fresh raspberries

Method:

Trim your asparagus and then tie it into a bundle with a bit of string.

Boil for about 2 minutes (you might need longer if your asparagus is not really thin)

Pull the asparagus bundle out and plop it into some cold water.

Then pat it dry and pop it into the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.

Make your dressing – mix the vinegar, salt and mustard first. Then add the oil slowly while stirring.  Last add the sour cream and pepper to taste.

After that its just an assembly job.  Asparagus on plate.  Drizzle dressing over and pop raspberries around the place.

Non- Smoothie

I am not sure that this Raspberry Banana concoction can be properly classified as a Smoothie or a Shake for this week's Food on Friday – but I am going to link it in anyway!  Author's prerogative.

This is what went into it:

2 pieces of frozen banana

The juice of 1 orange

½ tsp of stevia (you could use liquid honey instead)

1 tblsp of brandy (optional obviously)

Handful of frozen raspberries

A splash of water – just to get the right consistency

A quick whizz with a stick blender and it was done – all in under 5 minutes.  It was delicious – not too sweet.  And even better it had no added milk or sugar.  Fantastic!