Spring is made for salads, especially those tossed with asparagus fresh from the farm. Nothing beats a topping of crisp radishes, too, to compliment the butteriness of the season’s lettuce.
This season – which I long to never part – let’s us rethink our salad bowl – which I love. Love. Love. With it, it brings endless light options for lunch that would be a disgrace to label as boring.
Salad can be fun. And this one more than proves that to be so.
Here, asparagus takes the place of the green beans in a classic Nicoise salad. Aside from that, the make-up is pretty straight forward. Hardboiled eggs? Check. Tuna? Check. Thinly sliced onion? Check. Radishes? Check.
For the asparagus, a simple steam actually works well with this salad, given the complexity of the other flavors. However, if roasted spears are your absolute fav., by all means, get the oven going and go for it.
If you want to get fancy, you could sear some fresh tuna instead and add it on top. Or reserve that fanciness for the olives and bread you may wish to serve alongside this.
Bright, light and easy to assemble, this is spring at its best. Cheers.
Ingredients
- -10-12 spears of asparagus, tough ends snapped
- -6 cups of spring lettuce, chopped
- -1/2 sm. vidalia onion, thinly sliced
- -3-4 radishes, sliced
- -4 hardboiled eggs, chopped
- -1 (5oz.) can of tuna, drained
- -1 tsp. relish
- For the dressing:
- -1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- -2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (plus a splash if you like your dressing tangy)
- -1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- -2 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
- -Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Whisk dressing ingredients and set aside.
- Place a steamer basket in a large pot and fill water until it reaches just below the basket. Bring to a boil. Add asparagus, and cover. Cook 10 minutes, or until tender. Remove from pot.
- Divide lettuce among two bowls, and toss with onion and radish. Top with asparagus and eggs. Stir relish into tuna, and then place a large scoop into each bowl. Drizzle dressing on top. Enjoy.
Notes
Feel free to roast the asparagus, if that's your preference, and double the recipe, if serving more than two.