Spring’s Best: Asparagus Raw Salad with Fried Pastrami

This 5-star asparagus salad puts the RAH! in raw.

It may be the perfect way to eat fresh beautiful spring asparagus.

Thinly shaved asparagus is topped with strips of crispy, salty, fried pastrami and served with a super-simple Dijon dressing. There’s no need to cook the asparagus at all. Just shave your asparagus into thin strips. Grab the stalks by the tough, woody end and shave toward the top with a potato peeler.

This salad is simply amazing. Raw food for the rest of us — meaning, people who don’t mind topping a raw salad with fried pastrami. The sweet, grassy flavors of asparagus really work with the crispy, salty fried pastrami and the tangy mustard dressing.

VIDEO: Chef John’s Shaved Asparagus Salad

Watch Chef John make this amazing spring salad. “When you shave asparagus thin with a peeler and give it a quick curing/pickling in the mustard dressing,” says Chef John, “the harsh attributes mellow out substantially, and the sweet, grassy flavor comes through.” See how it’s done!


Check out our collection of Asparagus Recipes.