One of my very favorite salads is Asparagus, and I have a bunch of different toppings and additions and add-ons; but this particular combination; crisp tender asparagus, thinly sliced red onion, Honey Mustard Egg Salad, and slightly frizzled Italian cold cuts, all lightly topped with Swiss Style salad dressing, and crumbled blue cheese seems, to me, to be absolutely perfect.
A big platter of this salad is practically guaranteed to please dinner guests, but it’s also simple enough for everyday!
I use an asparagus pot, because we have asparagus a lot, but any large covered skillet or sauce pan will work.
Rinse your asparagus and cut about an inch off the bottom of each stem.
Note: you can, of course, toss these woody stems, but I like to stash ’em in a freezer bag to add an extra bang of flavor to stock for asparagus soup.
Bring a pot of water to a rolling bowl, then add one tablespoon of Kosher salt and the asparagus.
Cook for four or five minutes, until the asparagus is bright green.
Remove from the pot and plunge the asparagus into a large bowl of ice water. This will stop the spears from cooking any more, and the ice shock will lock in that lovely bright green color.
Remove the asparagus from the water and dry well. Stash in the fridge until needed.
Now, for the salad…
There is no real recipe, but I took this assortment of thinly sliced Mortadella, Genoa Salame, and Coppa and cooked ’em in a a skillet until nicely crisped. I then crumbled ’em and stashed ’em in a bowl until it was time to make the salad.
Salad Fixings and Toppings:
•Sliced asparagus
•Chopped Romaine lettuce
•Thinly sliced red onion
•Honey mustard egg salad
(or sliced hard cooked egg)
•Frizzled, crumbled cold cuts
•Crumbled blue cheese
•Swiss Style Salad Dressing
•Chopped toasted pecans
•Sliced pears
A real king among salads.