A couple of weeks ago I had a bunch of asparagus in my fridge that was dancing around the past its prime date. I wasn’t making anything that required a nice roasted asparagus as a side dish, which is my usual method for cooking the stalks. (Cut the bottoms off, lay them in a line on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper, into a 400 degree oven for about 11 minutes then top with some fresh grated romano and a squeeze of lemon, seriously, it’s PERFECT!)
Since the warmer weather was here, I thought I might like to do an asparagus salad. I searched online and came across a recipe that involved shallots, dijon vinaigrette, red peppers, and feta. I tried and it was quite tasty. Mike liked it too. Lots of flavor.
Flash-forward to today, I was planning on a simple summer meal, veggie burgers with potato salad. I saw that I had a bundle of asparagus in my fridge again and figured I would make them into salad again. Problem is, I COULD NOT find that recipe again. I went to like page 5 in my google search hoping to come across it.
So, I thought, eh, it’s not rocket science, just wing it.
And so I did.
I used a few elements from the previous dish and then just added a few new ones.
As follows:
- 1 bunch of asparagus, cut into approx. 2 inch pieces, blanched in salted bowling water for 2 minutes, then submerged into ice bath for 2 minutes
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 T dijon mustard
- 1 lemon, zested and squeezed
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
- 1/2 avocado, diced
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- Whisk olive oil, mustard, lemon juice/zest, salt, pepper, oregano, and shallots together until combined.
- Add blanched asparagus and tomatoes, mix to coat.
- Add feta and stir.
- Add diced avocado to top.
- Serve chilled.
It will be one of my go-to summer salads from now on. It was refreshing and delicious and the best part, healthy!
The potato salad was homemade too, but it’s not quite as jazzy to talk about!