We were having friends over for dinner, and I was in need of, as one of our nephews calls it, “A Conversation Salad.”
Ideally, a salad folk gathered around the table would be talking about, because it was so very good, and not, the evening Gabe named the salad, because the sweet potatoes were taking a heckish amount of time to finish cooking.
Fortunately, this is one of those salads that is truly good, and worthy of chatting about.
First, all thanks to the nice folk at Thomas’ English Muffins who provided the basic method and recipe; tho I must confess, I prefer Bays; specifically their sourdough muffins.
Second, by all means swap out salad veggies 
for your own faves; I had folk coming who cannot abide cucumbers or chopped egg, so I skipped those.
INGREDIENTS
Vinaigrette:
•1/2 cup sherry vinegar, or red wine vinegar
•1/2 cup olive oil
•2 tbsp lemon juice
•1 tbsp Dijon mustard
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•1/2 shallot, minced
•1/2 tsp sugar
•1/4 tsp Seasoned Salt
•1/4 tsp black pepper
•1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper
Salad:
•3 sourdough English muffins, toasted
•1 red pepper, diced
•Grape tomatoes, quartered
•1/2 red onion, sliced
•Fresh basil, torn
•Feta cheese, crumbled
•Blanched asparagus, sliced
•Chopped lettuce
Combine the vinaigrette ingredients together in a large beaker and whisk together with an immersion blender until emulsified. Transfer to a jar, cover and set aside until ready to serve.
Two notes:
No immersion blender? Then whisk together all of the ingredients except for the olive oil, and then, while whisking, slowly stream the olive oil into the vinaigrette.
Need to make the vinaigrette ahead? Then mebbe think about using half olive oil and half canola oil; that way your vinaigrette won’t solidify in the fridge.
Back to the salad!
Cut or tear your toasted English muffins into small pieces, then add to a large bowl with the other ingredients.
Drizzle with the vinaigrette, toss the salad, and serve.
Conversation or no, this is a lovely salad.