Brief Post: Asparagus Salad.

Spurred on by Jo, I will post again.

Terrible really, that it took me this long to jot down a single recipe for posterity! But for the record, most of my culinary creations of the last few weeks have been mediocre and simple to make, at best. Jose and Alan seem to like them, though, so perhaps that is the best test!

This is a quick recipe from last week, and it sounds exactly like its name. I apologize if I've forgotten any ingredients; add what you like.

Salad greens with Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients:

- 1 head green leaf lettuce (or your favorite field green vegetable; yuppy choices like escarole and endive aren't bad);
- 1 medium red bell pepper, julienned;
- 1 clementine or small orange, peeled and sectioned and seeds removed;
- 1 bunch asparagus, prepared (details to come)

I'll leave the dressing to you, though I suggest against anything creamy; it defeats the whole purpose of adding the clementine, which should give a fresh sweetness against the bitter tang of winter!

On how to prepare asparagus.

There's no canonical way of preparing this vegetable, but here is one method which seems reasonable trustworthy.

Stemming: Given an asparagus stalk, the best way to determine how much to remove from the stem is quite fun, actually. You take each stalk, hold it by both ends with both hands, hold the head tip steady, and bend the stem to the head tip until the stalk snaps. The division occurs precisely where the stalk is tough and untender.

Don't throw away the stems! Chopping and boiling them gives a good start to a pleasant vegetable broth. In fact, this is a general principle: just as how you might trim meats and poultry, take the remainder from this excision and boil them for broth.

Saute with Delayed Oil. For the record, I lied. You need some herbs for this, preferably dried (because they are lighter and adhere better to olive oil). I suggest thyme or oregano, and maybe a sparing of red pepper flakes. Add salt if you like, but don't overdo it; the asparagus will already wilt from the saute heat.

With these naturally stemmed stalks of asparagus, now snap them into fork-sized pieces. Heat a pan at high heat without oil at first, and when it is ready ..

(drip a few beads of water onto the pan; they should sizzle immediately)

.. just toss the asparagus in. Shake the pan every minute for a few minutes, until the asparagus begins to have seared spots on them. Then sprinkle with oil, and while it hisses, coat the asparagus with your chosen batch of herbs. Then give the pan a good shake, and this should be enough to coat each piece with oil and herbs.

Keep on high heat, shaking the pan regularly. When you think it's done, it's done. Then use as a salad ingredient with the others.