HelloFresh Canada Review: Asparagus Poke Bowl

HelloFresh Canada delivers fresh ingredients and healthy, chef-curated recipes based on seasonal farm fresh ingredients straight to your doorstep each week. Every week HelloFresh members choose three meals from a selection of award-winning, constantly-changing recipes (say goodbye to recipe boredom!).

We recently reviewed our May HelloFresh Canada delivery and now we are showing you the second of three recipes from our monthly delivery.

Let’s have a look at today’s recipe:

Asparagus Poke Bowl with Edamame Beans and Creamy Sesame Dressing

Layers upon fresh layers of flavour abound in this dish. Creamy avocado adds a satisfying richness to the dish while pickled cucumber and roasted asparagus bring such brightness. Welcome to flavour country!

Ingredients:

• 85 g Edamame
• ¾ cup Jasmine Rice
• 28 g Snow Pea Shoots
• 1 unit Avocado
• 66 g Mini Cucumber
• 340 g Asparagus
• 56 g Radish, sliced
• 1 tbsp Black Sesame Seeds
• 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 3 tbsp Mayonnaise
• 2 tsp Sesame Oil

Directions:

1. Preheat your broiler to high (to broil the asparagus).
2. Wash and dry all produce.* In a medium pot, bring 1 1/3 cups water to a boil. Thinly slice the cucumbers into 1/8-inch rounds. Trim and discard the bottom 1-inch from the asparagus.
3. Add the rice to the pot with the boiling water and reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed, 12-14 min. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the mayo, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 tsp sesame seeds and 1/4 tsp sugar. Set aside.
4. Heat a small pot over medium-low heat. Add the radishes, 1 tbsp water, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt and remaining rice vinegar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender-crisp, 3-4 min. Remove the pot from the heat and transfer the pickled radishes, along with the liquid, to another small bowl and set aside.
5. On a baking sheet, toss asparagus with the remaining sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper. Broil in the centre of the oven until the asparagus is tender, 5-6 min.
6. When the rice is finished cooking, stir in the edamame and season with salt. Cover and set aside, until the edamame are warmed through and slightly tender, 2-3 min. In another small bowl, toss the cucumbers with 1/4 tsp salt. Peel, pit and cut the avocado into 1/2-inch cubes.
7. Stir the remaining sesame seeds into the rice, then divide between bowls. Top with the radishes, cucumbers, avocado, asparagus and pea shoots. Drizzle over as much dressing as you like.

Notes: As you can see from the photo I made a couple changes to my Poke Bowl. It took me a little longer than expected to get around to making it and as a result a couple of the ingredients had gone bad. So……I substituted those ingredients with items I had in the fridge. Overall this was a really nice recipe. I ended up adding broccolini and I would definitely do that again if I make this recipe on another occasion. I simply added the broccolini to the pan with the asparagus and broiled them for the same amount of time. I think this would have also been good with quinoa as opposed to the rice. All in all it was great. A very healthy meal that left me feeling satisfied.

XOXO