We love our veggies at home and so I wanted to make a yummy vegetable dish but also wanted to change things up a bit and make something different than the usual sautéed or grilled vegetables. Also, many cooked veggies are good raw, and you get a bonus in nutrients from not cooking them. And so like always I lost control of my mind to thoughts of food, all these wonderful images were racing through my head and when asparagus came in I knew that was the one. So from all that rambling of thoughts came the Asparagus Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette recipe.
When I order a salad at a restaurant I ask for no onions yet when I make a salad at home I usually add onions to it. Strange right? Actually not really. At a restaurant they typically add very thick slices of red onion to the top of the salad, when I'm eating it, it tastes like I'm biting right into a raw onion and it's not so tasty. When I add onions to my salads at home I try to slice the onions paper thin, as thin as I could possibly get them. Once the salad gets tossed with the dressing and that onion marinades in it, the dressing helps break down that strong raw taste while the onion absorbs the flavors of the dressing. Just a small and simple thing like cutting a very thin onion can make the flavors of your salad come together.
Recipe
Ingredients:
Salad
- 1 bunch of asparagus, sliced
- 1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
Dressing
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions:
In a large bowl, toss the salad ingredients together.
In a small bowl add the dressing ingredients except for the oil and whisk. Continue whisking while slowly adding the oil, until well combined. Toss with the salad and serve.
