Tuesday, June 9, 2009

creamy kamut salad

my dearest brother, aka 'produce boy', recently brought me an exciting foodie gift - 28 pounds of fresh asparagus. yes, i said 28 pounds. needless to say, i have spent the past several weeks cooking and eating asparagus a variety of ways - roasted, grilled, baked, steamed, boiled... i even made asparagus guacamole (not bad!). i thought this dish was perfect for a potluck, as a twist on the traditional pasta salad.

  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked kamut (3 cups cooked)
  • 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 pound of asparagus, cut to bite size
  • 1- 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • about 5-6 fresh basil leaves, chopped/shredded
  • 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
  • 1 batch of buffalo mostarella cheese**
  • **with modifications
  • 1/2 tablespoon liquid smoke

basically, you could try any vegan dressing. i wanted one that was a little cheesy flavoured so i tried the buffalo mosteralla from the ultimate uncheese cookbook. however, i omitted the agar and halved the onion powder and cornstarch in the recipe because i wanted it to be thick, but not set up like a cheese. i also added half a tablespoon of liquid smoke. if using this recipe, put all your dressing ingredients in a blender for 1-2 minutes (until the mixture is smooth). pour into a saucepan and heat on medium for about 4-5 minutes... until it starts to thicken. put in a 4-cup pyrex container (or anything glass really) and put in the fridge to cool overnight.

once you are ready to make your salad, pull your dressing out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature. steam the asparagus, quarter your tomatoes and cook your kamut. after your kamut has cooked, drain and combine w/ the dressing in a large bowl. because the kamut will still be warm from cooking, the dressing should soften up and coat the grain very well. add in the tomatoes, asparagus, basil and olive oil. toss a couple more times. i added a couple dashes of lemon juice at this point because i thought it needed it.... but that just depends on the dressing you use.

serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.

21 comments:

allularpunk said...

this sounds absolutely delicious! i've never had kamut before (never found it here in my town...), but it looks wonderful. and i'm jealous of all your asparagus! wow!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Kamut is one of those grains that is far underutilized. Sounds so good and creamy!

Bianca said...

28 pounds of asparagus! Holy crap! I'm not even sure I know enough ways to cook asparagus to account for all of that. But this recipe looks like a good start!

GreenDogWine said...

That looks delicious!!!! lol 28 lbs? thats funny!

veggievixen said...

woah, vegan buffalo mozzarella? my mind = blown.

Jen Treehugger said...

Gosh - I've never even heard of Kamut!! That sure looks tasty though and I SO need to get that recipe book!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

that's a lot of asparagus!! i love asparagus.

i've never seen kamut before in the shops, only kamut flour!! but it sounds really good.

Mihl said...

Yay for kamut salad! I love the flavour of that grain?
28 pounds? That sounds crazy! My father once bought nearly as much canned asparagus...and I still hate that stuff. But this can never happen with fresh asparagus!

Gina said...

That looks super yummy!! I don't think I've ever really looked for kamut before, besides in puffed form!

Jen said...

i'm jealous you have that much asparagus. i bet your pee smells awesome. glad to be back, i've missed reading good food blogs. that dish looks very good.

LKSisters said...

Looks delicious! Never tried kamut grain, just kamut cereal and kamut flour - both which I love. And Asparagus with cherry tomatoes - a great Summer meal!

Femin Susan said...

Wow! Thanks for sharing.......

Amy said...

Yum! That looks fabulous! I've never seen Kamut over here :( I asked at the health food store once and got an hour long lecture on why we don't have it in Australia. I really hope I find some one day though because I'd love to make this with it!

Adam said...

Wow, 28 pounds, are you freal? You're going to turn jolly green giant green :)

But anyways, I like the idea of the salad. I'd totally eat that, and if I don't have any kamut, I'd sub some buckwheat :)

Jenn Shagrin said...

Thanks, Ms. V :) I was unfortunately already in Vegas by the time your greetings reached me, but I assure the celebration was worthy of the cause.

Happy Belated B-Day!

Jenn

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is a lot of asparagus! The salad sounds really good, I love the use of liquid smoke here, great flavors!

AnuSriram said...

Wow... that looks delicious! Kamut is new to me.. Have to give it a try!

Vic Robinson said...

28 pounds? That is nuts. I love asparagus though. A great gift.

Anonymous said...

28lbs!!! That's crazy, but darn, I would sure love to have some!
I love kamut, and it's true, we don't read much about it, really.

Steve Mirsky said...

Love how you make vegan cooking so tasty!

Joanne said...

That is a ridiculous amount of asparagus! You must be turning green! This salad looks crazy good!