Warm Asparagus and Jersey Royal Salad with a Honey Dijon Dressing

I don't know if any of you have noticed my button over there on the right hand side of the page, but I am a House Proud Innovater for Morphy Richards. This means that I am periodically sent Morphy Richard's products to try out here at home.

Late last week a huge box arrived at my door and inside was this lovely Morphy Richards Intellisteam to try out. I have never had a steamer, but it is something that has been long on my wish list. Steaming is an excellent way of cooking foods without using any fat and maintaining all the nutrients. With the Intellisteam you can cook a variety of foods, all at the same time. The unique intelligent timer ensures that all your steamed ingredients are perfectly cooked and that the whole meal is ready to serve at the same time, with a simple to use digital display.

It came with an excellent instruction book, that was very easy to understand, which is really important to me. I am the type of person that needs to learn most of the time by doing and unless a book is really well done, I have a really difficult time understanding it. I'm no dummy, but it's become fairly obvious to me over time that I am a tactile learner rather than a visual one.

Tonight I decided to put it through it's paces by making a delicious Warm Asparagus and Jersey Royal Potato salad with a Honey Dijon Dressing. The booklet has an excellent list of all the different meats, fruits and vegetables and timings for each. There is a pre-set time guide for different foods including chicken, fish, vegetables, rice and sauces programmed into the machine so no more guesswork. I was able to easily ascertain that for the amount of potatoes I had and the asparagus, I needed 35 minutes for the potatoes and about 8 minutes for the asparagus.



The really neat thing is that once I programmed both ingredients into the timer, and pressed start, the potatoes started to steam first and then at exactly 8 minutes, the asparagus began, so that both finished at the same time!! Most impressive!



I thought the finishing beep was a little weak and the cord a bit on the short side, but those are things that are not all that difficult to live with. On the plus side, I ended up with perfectly cooked vegetables!



Keep watching this space as in a couple of days I am going to try doing a whole meal instead of just a side dish in it. I'm really looking forward to that experience. There are several very tasty looking recipes in the book.

But for today I made this hot potato salad. I was given some really nice Jersey Royal Potatoes and I had some asparagus in the refrigerator. Oh, I just love this time of year!! Jersey Royals are wonderful variety of new potatoes and only available for a very short time. Produced on the Island of Jersey, they have a very unique and sweet/nutty flavour. You can use any new potato if you cannot get the Jersey Royals, but if you can do try to use them.



It may sound like an odd combination of ingredients, but trust me when I say that it works very well! You get the sweet nuttiness of the Jersey Royals, combined with the almost bitter crunch of the lightly steamed asparagus. (Make sure you trim off all the points from the asparagus stems as it can be quite bitter at times with them on.) You get a sweet crunch from the peppers and the dressing is almost oriental in flavours.



We quite, quite enjoyed! If you wanted to turn it into a main dish, you could add some grilled chicken, which would be lovely!



*Warm Asparagus and Jersey Royal Salad with a Honey Dijon Dressing*
Serves 4 as a side dish
Printable Recipe

A warm spring salad filled with lovely flavours and textures!

500g of Jersey Royal Potatoes, scrubbed
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch lengths
black pepper
4 TBS chopped red pepper
2 TBS finely chopped fresh chives
sea salt and black pepper

For the dressing:
4 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 TBS runny honey
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 tsp grated fresh gingeroot
the zest of 1/2 lime
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 TBS sherry vinegar

Steam the potatoes and asparagus until done. It will take about 35 minutes for the potatoes and 8 minutes for the asparagus. You want the asparagus crispy tender.

Place the chopped red pepper and chives in a salad bowl.

Whisk together all the dressing ingredints until well amalgamated.

LIghtly break up the potatoes with a fork. Toss into the bowl along with the asparagus cuts. Add enough dressing to moisten and season lightly with some sea salt and black pepper. Serve immediately.

Morphy Richard's Intellisteam:

• Easy to use digital display
• 8.2litre capacity
• Pre set time guide
• Personalised memory
• 3 individually controlled heaters
• Single tier design

• Auto keep warm function
• External water top up
• Visible water gauge
• Dishwasher safe
• Accessories included
• 2 year warranty