Asparagus with smoked salmon and Gribiche

Asparagus with smoked salmon and gribiche – seared fresh asparagus, topped with creamy, cold sauce Gribiche, and smoked salmon make a great lunch, brunch or dinner, ready in 20 minutes.

A quick and easy recipe today, inspired by the fresh asparagus crop, poking out everywhere at this time of the year.  This is a lovely brunch, lunch or dinner idea, that takes 20 minute to prepare, just a handful of ingredients, and no special skills.  Yet it looks elegant, and tastes sophisticated and delicious – definitely a great recipe to make for your mom, to show her some love, and impress her on Mother’s day!  I know for sure that this dish will make me quite happy – it’s my type of food.

And you know what else will make me happy?  A new kitchen!  But I’ll save that wish for Christmas 🙂 As things are right now, I keep forgetting that my oven takes 3 hours to warm up or doesn’t at all, and I keep planning meals that require baking, or roasting.  Planning a whole kitchen renovation complete with dining room and living room updates is a humongous project!  I am not sure what will take more time – planning, choosing and buying the materials, or the actual work!  In the meantime, I will have to learn to think in terms of bbq, and stove-top recipes only for the unforeseeable future.

Back to the recipe – it’s a riff on the traditional sauce Gribiche, usually made with chopped boiled eggs, emulsified with oil, and mustard, capers and fresh herbs.  I  opted out of the oil, in place of sour cream, and added some garlic for extra flavor.  You can literally make this creamy cold sauce in a couple of minutes and it’s the best companion to fish.  The sauce is spooned over seared asparagus and smoked salmon for a fantastic quick meal.  You can use mayo in place of the sour cream if you want more robust flavor, and you can adjust the proportions of the garlic, mustard and capers to your liking – it’s really more about the idea, and following your gut, and taste buds here.

I like to give the asparagus some nice color and flavor by quickly searing them in a hot pan, with a tiny bit of oil, and lots of black pepper and salt, as opposed to blanching them in hot water.  They get more flavorful this way.  However, if you prefer, cook them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then dip in ice cold water to stop the cooking, and retain the color.

Need more aspargus recipes?  Check out these favorites from the blog:
Asparagus flan with crab meat bacon and tarragon
Asparagus mushroom gratin
Marinated grilled vegetables with whipped goat cheese
Seeds and greens kaniwa salad

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Seared asparagus with smoked salmon and boiled eggs

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

Asparagus with smoked salmon and gribiche - seared fresh asparagus, topped with creamy, cold sauce Gribiche, and smoked salmon make a great lunch, brunch or dinner, ready in 20 minutes.

Course: Main Dish

Servings: 4

Calories: 229 kcal

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs fresh asparagus 27-28 stalks
• 8 oz smoked salmon
• 4 boiled eggs
• 1 1/2 Tbs capers
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 1/2 Tbs mustard
• 4 garlic cloves. smashed
• chopped fresh dill
• salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Chop the woodsy bottom inch of the asparagus stalks, wash and dry.  Add a splash of olive oil in a pan, wide enough to hold the asparagus whole and heat to medium-high.  

2. Sprinkle the asparagus liberally with salt and black pepper, and give them a quick sear (5-6 minutes), turning once or twice.

3. Meanwhile boil the eggs.  Peel and chop roughly.

4. Mix the sour cream with the mustard, and smashed garlic, plus salt and black pepper to taste.  Add half of the sauce to the chopped eggs.

5. Roughly chop the capers, and add to the eggs mix.

6. Place about 1 Tbs of the reserved sauce at the bottom of a serving dish, arrange a few asparagus stalks on top, add 2-3 Tbs of the egg mix, and about 2 oz of smoked salmon on top.  Garnish with fresh dill, more salt and pepper.