Spring Spinach, Strawberry, Pea Shoot Salad With Chived Lemon Buttermilk Dressing

Spinach, radishes, asparagus and peas are the first brave soldiers of the springtime garden to poke their bold noses above ground. Like the very first robins of the season, these early birds might just be veggie garden harbingers of spring. 

Despite Mother Nature's indecisiveness...20's and snow one day, 80's and sun another...the vernal equinox has finally been crossed, days have grown longer, and warmer temperatures seem as if they're (finally) here to stay. Time for a celebration of salad! 

A riot of green pea shoots, shaved raw asparagus and spinach  mixed with raucous red radishes and strawberries - all things spring - were heaped high onto a great big platter and drizzled with an equally springy chive, lemon, buttermilk and poppyseed dressing. 

This fresh, light and very seasonal salad was just what was needed alongside great big burgers from the grill on a warm weeknight evening. Welcome spring! Finally.

Spring Spinach, Strawberry, Pea Shoot Salad

With Chived Lemony Buttermilk Dressing

• 2 C baby spinach, washed and dried
• 3/4 C pea shoots, bottoms torn off - got them at Whole Foods
• 2 giant radishes, cut in half lengthwise and sliced across thinly
• 5 large asparagus spears, raw - cut into ribbons lengthwise with a vegetable peeler
• 2 green onions, sliced across well into the green
• 3/4 - 1 C strawberries, washed and sliced lengthwise

• 1/3 C buttermilk
• 1/4 C fresh lemon juice
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T sugar
• 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced finely
• 1 t poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 T fresh chives, sliced across thinly
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• a hefty grind of black peppercorns

Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl.Combine the dressing ingredients in a Mason jar, screw on the lid and shake until well-combined. 

Drizzle salad with dressing and enjoy!

Springtime Asparagus lasagna

For those of you who were wondering what the pasta dish in the foreground of yesterday's Sweet Tea Applewood Smoked Chicken Thighs was, here's both the answer AND the recipe...Springtime Asparagus Lasagna! 

Unfortunately, I don't recall when I first made this or where the original recipe came from to credit its creator.  Suffice it to say, it was long and many permutations ago.  Whoever, wherever you are, please know I will be forever grateful for my favorite non-traditional lasagna recipe.  It is the epitome of spring and makes a nice side dish to an Easter ham!

Springtime Asparagus Lasagna

• 2 pounds asparagus, ends snapped off
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 lasagna noodles, no boil variety, or equivalent (gluten-free to make this GF)
• 2 T. butter
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch (gluten-free to make this GF)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 lemon, zest only
• salt, to taste
• 1 cup parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated, and extra for the top
• 1 cup heavy cream

Cut tips from asparagus spears; set aside separately.  Cut the remaining bottoms diagonally into 1/2" pieces; cook until tender-crisp and plunge into ice water. Drain and set aside.

Prepare the lasagna sheets according to package directions and drain.  Set aside.
 
Melt butter in a saucepan, add cornstarch and cook stirring over low heat until it begins to thicken.  Add broth and continue whisking until smooth.  Stir in feta, zest and salt; stir until sauce is smooth.  It's okay if the feta doesn't incorporate completely...nobody will ever know in the finished dish.

Butter the sides and bottom of a 9" X 9" pan.  

Drain pasta well.  Make 1 layer of noodles - cut to size, if you need to.  Spread with 1/4 of the sauce.  Top with 1/4th the reserved asparagus bottoms and sprinkle with 1/3 cup parm.  Continue layering, ending with a layer of noodles.

In a bowl, beat cream with just a pinch of salt to soft peaks.  Arrange the asparagus tips on top of the lasagna and gently put the whipped cream over the top.  Evenly scatter the remaining parm over the top.

Bake at 400  for 30-40 minutes or until golden and bubbling.  Let it cool for a few minutes before cutting.

Lemon Chicken with Asparagus, Snowpeas and Mushrooms

The title of this dish tells you almost exactly what's in it.  And you're thinking Chinese, right?  Nope.  Not a speck of soy sauce, not a smidgen of sesame oil...not even a drop of chile paste.  Surprised?  So what are the flavors?  Bright and tangy lemon, tender chicken, fresh, crunchy snowpeas, earthy mushrooms and sweet asparagus. The flavors are clean and decidedly Spring! 

We love this for a quick dinner, but the bite-size pieces  make this a great dish for a large crowd, too.  Those occasions when you have a lot people over who end up balancing plates on their laps?  This is the dish to serve...you won't need a knives and forks!  

I like to serve this with either a buttered rice brightened with a little chopped parsley and sliced green onions when I'm feeling fancy and have the time - or I just serve it with plain brown rice like pictured above.  To round out the meal, maybe a green salad or a fruit salad and some good bread - maybe even some fresh blueberry muffins to highlight the spring feeling!  

And yeah, I know it isn't spring yet, but I'm sure dreaming of it...aren't you?  Especially after the snowflakes were flying today.  I'm hoping that by bringing out some early spring flavors in my cooking (and maybe some store-bought daffodils for a centerpiece...just to pretend) then maybe, just maybe, the real spring will get here sooner?  Maybe?  Yes?



Lemon Chicken with Asparagus, Snowpeas & Mushrooms


Serves 4


• 1 pound boneless chicken, cut into medium-sized chunks
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/3 pound snow pea pods, fresh, whole, stem ends removed
• 1/2 pound asparagus, woody ends snapped off, sliced diagonally into 2" pieces
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms

• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons water
• salt and pepper, to taste


Combine chicken with 2 t. of oil and 2 t. cornstarch.  Toss together in a bowl until chicken is coated.


 Heat 2 T. oil in a skillet and sprinkle the oil with salt.  Add chicken and saute until it just cooks, but doesn't brown.  Remove chicken to a plate.
Add the veggies to the pan and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender and then add chicken back to skillet.
While the veggies are cooking, stir together the remaining 2 t. cornstarch, 1 T lemon juice, the stock, water and salt and pepper.  When the mixture is smooth, pour it over the chicken and veggies in the skillet.  Stir until the sauce thickens and serve over rice.


NOTE:  Double, triple or quadruple (etc., etc., etc.) the recipe to serve as many people as you need to.  This is naturally gluten-free!

Roasted Grape and Asparagus Salad

Roasted Grape and Asparagus Salad

Who else loves quick and easy lunches or dinners to make in the morning for later on in the day?! Look at all those waving hands and the chorus of "I do! I do!" This past week I threw this salad together one morning...it was so good I've made it several more times already!

The great thing about this one is that grapes are in season now - often on sale - and I've found some (relatively) inexpensive asparagus, too. That makes this a delicious and budget friendly salad to make…and it is soooo yummy!  

Roasted Grape and Asparagus Salad

• 1 ½ - 2 cups of salad mix

• 2 strips of cooked, crumbled bacon

• 4-5 spears of asparagus

• ½ cup grapes

• 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

• granulated garlic, to taste

• 10-12 almonds halved (I used Smokehouse almonds)

• 2 Tablespoon blue cheese

• a little thinly sliced red onion

• 2 Tablespoons of your favorite Raspberry or Balsamic Vinaigrette

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place grapes and asparagus on baking sheet, drizzle both with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste (yes, the grapes, too!). Sprinkle the granulated garlic only on the asparagus. 
 

Place in oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes - less if you wish. Grapes should be almost crispy on the outside, but they should not burst. Asparagus should still have a bite to it and be bright green with a little crispiness. Let grapes and asparagus cool to room temperature and cut the asparagus diagonally into bite-sized pieces.


In the meantime, place salad mix in a bowl and top with bacon, almonds, blue cheese, and onions. Arrange the cooled grapes and asparagus on top. Drizzle salad with dressing and enjoy! 
 
I really like this salad for lunch on its own, but t would also be good as a side salad to dinner. It looks impressive and is so easy!

NOTE: This salad is great to use left over asparagus from the night before. If you do not have time to roast the grapes you can put them in raw or exchange them with Craisins.

Bad Decisions....Of The Very Best Kind!!

If you’ve been reading this very new blog, you may have noticed, Bad Decisions in Fells Point (Baltimore), has already been mentioned a couple of times.  For good reason!

John Reusing, the owner/bartender, is an artist and a showman behind that bar!  Nothing less than top shelf liquors (Patron XL Espresso Tequila!) and liqueurs (Lazzaroni amaretto and sensuously delicious Or-G with flavors of persimmon, papaya, mango and lime!) are turned into magical elixirs of fresh herbs and whatever fresh fruits are beckoning to him in the market that day.  Fresh figs and passion fruit starred in last weekend’s cocktails!

Besides great drinks, John has some mad skills in the kitchen, too.  His rich, thick, Southern chicken and veggie-filled Brunswick stew hit the spot, but the bacon wrapped asparagus was the BIG hit of the night!  That’s the recipe I recreated and made for dinner last night…and added an orange balsamic drizzle to give just a little of an acid balance to the salty bacon/sweet asparagus delectable bundle of goodness.  Hope you don’t mind, John!

Bad Decisions is a GREAT decision for those of us who want a laid-back, comfortable, neighborhood feel with no pretensions along with great drinks and damned good bar food to boot.



Roasted Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
with an Orange Balsamic Drizzle



• 24 thin asparagus spears
• 8 thin slices bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Snap the woody ends off the bottoms of the asparagus.  Hold 3 spears of asparagus together and tightly wrap a slice of bacon from the stem end up to the tips.  Place on a rimmed baking sheet.  Repeat with the rest of the bacon and asparagus.

Roast, turning once or twice during roasting, until the bacon is browned but the asparagus is still crisp tender.  Drain on paper towels and then place on a serving plate. 

Drizzle with the orange balsamic glaze and serve.

Glaze:

• ½ C. good balsamic vinegar
• 2 t. sugar
• 1 t. grated orange zest
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small pot and simmer until the glaze is thickened, but not too thick.  It should be like a syrup.  If it goes too far and you end up with balsamic tar, use a little juice from the orange to thin it out.  It may take a little stirring, but it will be just fine.  (Obviously, I learned that the hard way.)



 (By the way, those are Jerk Pork Burgers on the plate along with the asparagus....recipe soon.  And yes, pork and bacon go together just perfectly!)