Asparagus and Egg Salad with Walnuts and Mint

Lighting was horrible on this dark day but maybe you get the idea of how good this salad is. 

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day - one that has felt like a very long time coming! (Snow in April, hello!???) With skies so blue and temperatures in the low 70's it seemed like the only wise course of action was to go walking in the Parkville Nature Sanctuary. Even though the trees are still bare (will our midwest trees get foliage in time to drop it for autumn???? One begins to wonder.) there are hints of the greenery to come.

Being out in nature and feeling the warmth of the sun made me look forward to one of Parkville's rites of spring - the opening of our local farmer's market, beginning this Saturday. I can't wait to buy really fresh produce and then eat all that midwest bounty. For now, however, I'm still relying on my local grocer for fruits and veggies that don't come from a can.  Price Chopper had beautiful stalks of asparagus which I took as a sign that I was meant to make this salad from the Smitten Kitchen blog. If the trees are still bare, I may as well eat foods that present a vibrant splash of green goodness, right?

Before reading the recipe more carefully, I assumed I'd be steaming/blanching or otherwise cooking the asparagus but turns out all I had to do was cut fairly thin diagonal slices. I wondered how the uncooked version would taste and found that I loved the crunch and the almost sweet feel of raw asparagus.

I followed Deb's instructions exactly for the not quite hard boiled eggs and, guess what, they turned out just as she said they would - not runny but not quite totally set either. It's no surprise that I would like the less hard cooked egg as it's merely a variation of one of my favorite "sandwiches", which involves frying an egg so that the yolk isn't runny but also isn't completely cooked (is this sounding familiar?) and then sticking that egg on a piece of toast. I kind of did the same thing today, except I added the asparagus, cheese, nuts, lemon zest, chili flakes, and seasonings.

Mounded onto a piece of toast, I didn't actually taste each component. The mint was barely discernible but, somehow just that subtle hint of taste made the finished product have a richer taste profile. Same with the nuts.  Deb shows her finished salad on a piece of artisan looking bread but since we don't keep fancy breads around, I just toasted two pieces of wheat bread. Her fancy bread is probably a better choice but, I'm proof that even lowly regular toast is a fine base for this very tasty, very spring-like salad.

Asparagus and Egg Salad with Walnuts and Mint
From Smittenkitchen.com

Ingredients:
4 large eggs, cold from fridge
1/2 cup (1 ounce or 30 grams) grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces or 55 grams) finely chopped lightly well-toasted walnuts (I put mine in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dried chile flakes
1 pound asparagus, any thickness, tough ends trimmed
About 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil, preferably extra-virgin

Directions:
Bring a small/medium pot of water to boil. Gently lower in eggs and reduce heat to a simmer. Boil for 8 1/2 minutes, then quickly transfer eggs to an ice-cold water bath. Leave them there while you prepare the other ingredients, but ideally at least 10 minutes.

Place parmesan, walnuts, and lemon zest in the bottom of a large bowl, along with 1 teaspoon salt, many grinds of black pepper, and about 1/2 teaspoon chile flakes (or more or less to taste; I used half because: kids). Stir to combine.

Cut the asparagus on a sharp angle into very thin slices and add to the parmesan mixture. Add 1/4 cup lemon juice and toss some more. Taste and adjust the flavors to your preference by adding more salt, black pepper, chile flakes, or lemon juice, and go a little bit heavy, so the flavors don’t disappear once you add the eggs. Add mint and olive oil toss, adjusting seasoning again.

Peel your cooled eggs. Cut in half, then each half into 6 to 8 chunks. Add to bowl with asparagus and give it one or two gentle stirs (I don’t want to get them too mashed up here).

Eat as is, or scoop onto 6 to 8 toasts or 3 large matzo sheets, halved into 6 more manageable “toasts” (obviously this would negate the gluten-free categorization).