Our spring garden is not as full as the summer garden, but each year we add a little more with the hope that eventually we will have a large cool weather garden space. This spring we planted snow peas, sugar snap peas, rhubarb, three kinds of radishes, two kinds of radicchio, butterhead and romaine lettuce, red Russian kale, arugula, three kinds of chard, beets, green onions, shallots, dill, and cilantro. I still have a couple new rosemary plants (Arp variety) to put in the ground, but we need to finish prepping their new home first. And then there’s the blueberries which will finally go into their permanent home now that Michael tackled the enormous job of transplanting a dozen rose bushes to make room for the blueberries. So we have plenty of greens and vegetables to make spring greens salads.
Tender young greens make perfect a spring greens salad, which I like to embellish with pencil thin asparagus and young snow peas. The honey Dijon vinaigrette has a little bite to it, but you can sweeten it by using more honey. And it makes enough to use another time.
[Updated September 9, 2010.]
Spring Greens Salad with Asparagus, Snow Peas, Radishes, and Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
Equipment
- small bottle or cruet with a tight lid
Ingredients
Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salad
- 8 cups fresh spring greens (romaine, radicchio, mesclun, etc.)
- 12 pencil-thin asparagus spears (cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 2 radish (thinly sliced)
- 20 small snow peas
- 2 ounce Grana Padana cheese (shaved, or vegan substitute)
Preparation
- VINAIGRETTE: In a bottle, shake the white balsamic vinegar, Dijon, honey, sea salt, and black pepper. Add the olive oil and shake until blended.
- Compose the salad on plates and dress 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Top with the Grana Padana shavings and serve.
what a great spring salad! love it!
Yummy! I’m just a little behind on full harvesting of the spring garden, but my broccoli is starting to head and the peas are climbing. Already thinking about the summer garden…
mmmmh that looks lovely and refreshing… it’s with the asparagus recently that i have come to lament the fact that we do not have any seasons anymore – in the UK everything (almost) is available year round, so the great anticipation for the first asparagus and spring greens to appear on the shelves is not anymore. the same goes for strawberries – i find that they taste so much better when you’ve waited for them for weeks – and it also meant that they were seasonal, local and way tastier than what we get these days! so gorwing your own is the way to go… if only i had the space (and patience)!