Lemony Asparagus Salad

Ah Pinterest. I found this delicious looking asparagus salad on there a few weeks back. Asparagus is in season so I kept meaning to make it to go with dinner. However, I never seemed to be ahead of the ball enough to make it happen. This weekend I got all organized and decided it needed to happen for Monday lunch, so I made it happen. 

Adapted from WholeFoods 

Ingredients

1 bunch asparagus

4 garlic cloves, minced

Juice of 2 lemons

1 tbl honey 

1 tsp stone ground mustard

Fresh mint, minced 

Methods 

1.  Start by chopping the tips  off of the asparagus and throwing them in a bowl. Next, I quartered the asparagus, although in retrospect I would have just coarsely chopped it. Blanche the asparagus for less than a minute. 

2. Meanwhile combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl as dressing. Toss the asparagus with the dressing and enjoy. 

I enjoyed mine as a Meatless Monday lunch with a ton of feta. It seemed to call for feta. Deliciously lemony and minty with my feta. Looking forward to trying this again! 

Chickpea and Tomato Summer Salad

Lets be honest, I have a love affair with beans. It started when I was single and it was me and the baked beans. We were pretty monogamous. Then I got a little older and had some flirty times with the refried beans at Mexican restaurants. Since my vegetarian lent, well lets just say I'm a full on bean slut. I haven't really had a bean I didn't like. 

When it comes to chickpeas though, they always make me think of my mom. Her palate is a little more constrained than mine, however out I the blue when I was in high school she piled some garbanzo beans on her salad and announced that she had always lied them. I had never seen her eat them before that, but they are her bean of choice. So when I was out searching the interweb for recipes and came across this Chickpea and Tomato Salad on Eat Yourself Skinny, I knew I had to give it a try. 

I was able to use cherry tomatoes from the farmers market and basil out of our garden, making this super fresh and delicious. Winning:  Keys - fast, easy, fresh, healthy, tastes.  I enjoyed the combination of the different vinegars and the addition if honey for a smidge of sweetness. I see this being repeated agin this summer, possibly while mom is visiting.  

Ingredients:  

1 large container farmers market tomatoes

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained. 

1 handful fresh garden basil

1 tbl red wine vinegar

1 tbl apple cider vinegar

2 tsp olive oil

1/2. Tbl honey

Salt to taste

Directions 

I started with quartering the tomatoes lengthwise and added them to a bowl with the chickpeas. 

I chopped up the basil fairly finely, and added the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Mix and allow to sit for a while to mellow the ingredients. 

Cucumber dill salad

This is a simple oldie and goodie.  My sister makes a cucumber dill salad that is yummy. Since its the unofficial start of summer, it called to me to make this super healthy salad to go with our burgers Saturday night. It felt especially fitting since we have dill going to town this summer.  Traditional salads include red onion, but I have mixed feelings on onions, so I don't include them. Likewise i know there are a lot of traditional versions of this with a creamy base, but i prefer the healthy and super tangy version with the vinegar. A little bit goes a long way. I did use this excuse to pull out my mandolin. Every opportunity to use a kitchen gadget is a good opportunity. 

Ingredients

1 English cucumber sliced thinly

3 tbl white vinegar

2 tsp sugar 

2 tbl fresh dill. 

Pepper to taste 

I started out with slicing the cucumber up on the mandolin. 

In a small bowl I mixed up the vinegar, sugar, dill, and pepper.  

Toss the vinegar sauce with the cucumbers and let it soak up the deliciousness. They were even better the second day :)