gluten-free · nut-free

Bring some wow-factor to the dinner table with these awesome pink-dyed asparagus!

I wanted to have some fun with the dark pink liquid I had leftover from my homemade fermented beets, so I decided to super-concentrate it into these asparagus. And the best way to do that? Sous vide.

That’s what’s so great about sous vide cooking—you cook in a vacuum (that’s literally the translation of sous vide in French) so there’s no way any flavor can escape. The only place flavor can go is more into whatever you’re cooking, and in this case, it’s the humble but beautiful asparagus.

The pink looks super cool and vibrant, so this is a great dish to make for a special occasion, when you have guests over, or even to treat yourself to something awesome!

Great for:

appetizers, starters, fancy dinner parties, a romantic date or a treat-yourself kind of night

  

pink sous vide asparagus and fermented beets

serves 2

10 large asparagus spears

60ml fermented beet liquid (recipe here), plus more for plating

80g tamari

2g lemon zest

Juice of 1 1/2 lemons

1 dried chile de Arbol, cracked (optional)

1X1” piece kombu seaweed

30g watermelon radish

10 leaves red sorrel leaves, for topping

10ml extra-virgin olive oil, for topping

fermented beets, for topping

1. Prepare a large water bath with a circulator machine at 85ºF / 29ºC. Peel a third of each asparagus spear, starting from the bottom.

2. Place the peeled asparagus and fermented beet liquid in a food-grade sous vide bag and cook in the 85ºF / 29ºC water for 8 minutes.

3. In a small pot add the tamari, lemon zest, juice of 1 lemon, chile de Arbol, and seaweed. Reduce by half on medium-high heat. Remove from heat, take out the kombu, and set aside.

4. Cut the watermelon radish brunoise (micro dice). Place in a small bowl and season with salt and the remaining juice of 1/2 a lemon. Set aside.

5. To serve, add spread the reduction lightly on the bottom of the serving plate. Add 4-5 asparagus on top, and top with watermelon radish, red sorrel leaves, olive oil, fermented beets, and some more of the fermented beet liquid. Repeat with the other plate. Serve warm.