A recipe for Asparagus Salad with Smoked Trout and Lemon Herb Dressing from Kentucky Native Café
Asparagus salad with smoked trout and lemon herb dressing. Photo by Emily Giancarlo
As the weather warms and flowers start to bloom, Kentucky Native Café — the European-style beer garden and café attached to Michler’s Florist & Greenhouses — is the perfect place to meet a friend for a drink and a snack. This asparagus salad with smoked trout is among the fresh, seasonal salads that regularly appear on the café’s menu, and our friends over there have been kind enough to share the recipe so that you can recreate it to enjoy in your own backyard.
Salad Base:
• 2 bunches of asparagus
• 1 filet of smoked trout (we use Kentucky Rainbow Trout from Shuckman’s, available at Good Foods Co-Op)
• 10 ounces fresh salad greens (today’s came from Berea College)
Dressing Ingredients:
• ½ pound silken tofu
• Zest from one lemon
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 pinch black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup mixed fresh herbs (we use a mix of dill, chives, basil)
• Sprig of tarragon
Remove woody ends from asparagus, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and roast on 400 degrees for about six minutes (less for thin asparagus).
For the dressing: Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
For assembly: Place a bed of fresh salad greens onto plate. Top with the asparagus, followed by flaked smoked trout and a drizzle of lemon herb dressing.