Strawberry Asparagus Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette is a perfect spring or summer salad with lots of fresh flavors, made brighter with a fresh zesty lemon dressing.
Strawberry Asparagus Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Spring is that special time when one can finally remove the snow boots, leggings and heavy sweaters and feel light and free again.
Until the realization hits that summer is coming, with its hot weather and shorts, sleeveless shirts and bathing suits. (Insert horror movie scream here.)
Here’s the problem with leggings – when you’ve been wearing them every day since the weather got cold in late October, it can be a shock to put on your regular old pants.
Good bye Ben and Jerry. I’ll miss you. We had fun, the three of us.
I’ve got to stop this bloat in its tracks.
I think I told you about my road trip last December, where I ate an exceptional fresh strawberry salad at a little cafe in the middle of nowhere.
They served it with a big, soft homemade dinner roll with butter.
I can’t stop thinking about it.
There are plenty of recipes out there for strawberry salad, but this one is different because of crisp, thin asparagus, crunchy sliced almonds and a little tang from the goat cheese.
A generous drizzle of honey-sweetened homemade lemon vinaigrette doesn’t hurt either.
This is one of those simple salads you can customize to your own taste, with its balance of textures and sweet and savory elements. Swap out the cheese if you like! Try butter lettuce instead of spinach and micro-greens too.
Only thing is I probably should have pulled this recipe together about a month ago, and skipped the Chunky Monkey.
Strawberry Asparagus Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups Spinach, fresh, rinsed and dried, torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 1/2 cups Mache, lambs ear or butter lettuce, rinsed, dried and torn
- 1 pound Asparagus, washed and dried with bottom woody parts removed
- 2 tablespoons Shallot, sliced thin
- 4 tablespoons Goat Cheese, crumbled
- 4 tablespoons Sliced Almonds
- 2 cups Strawberries, organic if possible, sliced
- FOR THE LEMON VINAIGRETTE
- 6 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 4 tablespoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
- 3 teaspoons Honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper, freshly ground
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- PREPARE ASPARAGUS
- Remove the woody bottoms of the asparagus. Place asparagus in a medium saucepan with just enough water to cover the bottom with a pinch of salt.Turn heat to medium high and bring to a light boil. Cook till crisp and bright green, about 4 minutes.
- Remove asparagus from pan and quickly place the asparagus in a bowl of cold water with ice cubes to stop the cooking process and help retain the color. Let the asparagus sit in cold water for about 5 minutes, then remove and dry on clean paper towels.
- PREPARE THE VINAIGRETTE
- Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk with a fork to completely combine. Alternatively, put all ingredients in a small canning jar with a lid, shaking it for several minutes until combined.
- COMPOSE THE SALADS
- Divide the greens onto four plates, then divide the spears of the asparagus onto each plate too. Sprinkle a heaping teaspoon of shallot on each plate, and a tablespoon or so each of the crumbled goat cheese and almonds. Divide the strawberries to the plates and drizzle with a tablespoon or so of the vinaigrette for serving.
Notes
- You can use honey roasted sliced almonds in this recipe instead of plain.
- Use a bit more honey in the vinaigrette if you like it sweeter.
- This recipe was updated in December 2019
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