Make the most of early season asparagus in this crunchy fattoush salad

Don’t let the veggies in this Levantine salad fool you – in this meal alone, you’ve hit your daily protein take, says nutritionist Lily Keeling

Make early season asparagus the hero of dinner (Green Chef)

Fattoush is a Levantine salad that’s all about the crunch.

Add in some of that asparagus that speared early this year, a welcome arrival amid the current vegetable shortages, and make it the hero of dinner. Pair it with baked tortillas sprinkled with berry-tart sumac, tied together with a crumble of tangy feta.

What’s great about this treat of a meal is it stars one of my go-to iron rich vegetables: asparagus. And don’t let the veggies fool you, in this meal alone, you’ve hit a quarter of your daily protein take!

Asparagus fattoush salad

Serves: 2

Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

100g asparagus

125g baby plum tomatoes

Half a cucumber

1 bunch mint

100g radishes

50g baby leaf salad mix

4 plain taco tortilla

2 tbsp sumac

15g pomegranate molasses

100g feta cheese

Method:

1.Preheat your oven to 220C/200C fan/gas mark 7. Trim the asparagus and cut into thirds. Place the asparagus onto a baking tray. Drizzle with oil and, if you’d like to, season with salt and pepper, then toss. Roast on the middle shelf of your oven until tender, 6-8 mins, turning halfway through.

2. Meanwhile, halve the baby plum tomatoes. Trim the cucumber then halve lengthways. Thinly slice widthways. Pick the mint leaves from their stalks and roughly chop (discard the stalks). Trim and thinly slice the radishes. Add all the ingredients into a large bowl with the baby leaf mix.

3. Cut the tortillas into roughly 1-inch squares. Place on a large baking tray in a single layer and drizzle with oil. Use 2 trays if you need. Sprinkle with sumac and, if you’d like to, season with salt and pepper. Bake on the top shelf until lightly golden brown and slightly crisp, 6-8 mins. Turn halfway through.

4. While the tortillas cook, combine the pomegranate molasses and olive oil in a small bowl. Pour over the salad and if you’d like to, season with salt and pepper. Toss everything together to coat.

5. Add half of the tortilla chips to the salad and toss.

6. Serve the salad in bowls. Crumble over the feta, then top with the asparagus. Serve with extra tortilla chips.

For more healthy recipe inspiration visit greenchef.co.uk