Lemon, Pepper, and Asparagus Salad
Spring has finally sprung here in Cincinnati. And with the addition of a shiney new grill to our family, we’ve been opting for easy-peasey meals which include grilled meat and a pile of fresh vegetables. For maximum ease of meal prepping, we just grill the veggies, but sometimes I like to prepare them in other ways.
Lemon, pepper, and asparagus salad is one of those ways. This salad really highlights the fresh in-season asparagus. Since it cooked for a few minutes on the stovetop, it keeps a nice crunch and vibrant color.
The lemon juice and freshly ground pepper just enhance those flavors. I threw in some heirloom cherry tomatoes to add some color and texture to the dish. You could make it with or without the tomatoes.
One note about fresh tomatoes. I ALWAYS season them with coursely ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper. No matter what I’m doing with them, they always get seasoned. And don’t be afraid to use some salt on tomatoes. I remember watching an episode of Barefoot Contessa years ago where she talked about how the flavor of a tomato can really be enhanced by some salt, and how it’s hard to over-salt a tomato. I took those words to heart and firmly agree with her.
One Year Ago: Marbled Chocolate Chip Bundt and Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Two Years Ago: Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken and Carrot Cake and Cheesecake Cake
Three Years Ago: Spring M&M Pretzel Treats and Vanilla Buttercream
Four Years Ago: Fauxstess Cupcakes and Spinach Pasta with Chicken Sausage, Mushrooms, Goat Cheese and Tomato
Lemon Pepper Asparagus Salad
Yield: Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus (rinsed)
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
bowl of ice water (for blanching)
Directions:
Chop the asparagus into small pieces.
Put the asparagus and a splash of water in a pot on the stove top. Cover with a lid and cook on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until asparagus turn bright green. Turn off the heat and transfer the asparagus to the ice bath.
Allow to sit in the ice water for a couple of minutes. Drain and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Add the oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and tomatoes and stir well. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Garnish with extra lemon zest if desired.
Recipe from Keep It Simple Foods
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’m disgusted…….but intrigued. LOL It sounds like it wouldn’t work…but as a fellow PB&J lover, I’m going to try it pretty soon. I wonder how it would all be with chocolate drizzled on top. Too much?? LOL
http://www.simplysweeter.blogspot.com
Ahh I should have checked my Google reader before I had breakfast! I was craving a PB&J sandwich, but only had stale bread..=( I ate it anyway.. but this would have been so much better! I need to try this.
Hmm, I’m not sure about this one… 😉
not gunna lie…thought this was weird but i’m sorta tempted to try it! num nummm, i’m obsessed with pb…so how could it be bad?
i love pb & j…but im not sure if i’d love it that much on eggs…..
sorry!
When I saw this in my google reader I was like “whoa someone else makes PB&J omlets.” I had posted about them so long ago I forgot, but I’m so happy to have someone else who loves the combo!
I’m loving all the comments today. Like I always tell Hubby, don’t hate it ’til you try it!
This is funny because my hubby often eats egg whites with peanut butter on top – apparently it’s a big body builder thing to get the right ratio of fat and protein – haha, so you’re not alone, I can imagine he’d love the jelly with this too!
And I really like your top 30 post – very inspiring!
I can kind of see how this works! I made pb&j stuffed french toast once, and this is kind of like that, minus the bread. Like a low-carb pb&j! I might have to give it a shot 🙂