As I continue going through some Cooking Light recipes, the next one I tried was an awesome asparagus salad.  The proper title — Shaved Asparagus Salad with Manchego and Almonds.  What was unique about this is that the asparagus is raw.  I can count on less than one hand the amount of times I’ve eaten un-cooked asparagus.  Game on!  When I made this, I did not add the egg because of everything else I was making for dinner, I didn’t need that extra bit of protein/food.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar (I used tarragon vinegar because I didn’t want to buy a fresh bottle of sherry vinegar just for this and that’s what I had on hand)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons walnut oil (again, didn’t want to buy something new, so used some sesame oil)
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic (of course I used more than that!)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound large asparagus
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 8 cups water
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 ounce Manchego cheese, shaved (about 1/4 cup)

Directions

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.
2. Using a sharp peeler, thinly peel asparagus to equal 3 cups asparagus ribbons. Add asparagus and parsley to bowl; toss gently to coat.  *They make this sound SO easy.  Not so much.  With a carrot, yet, but with a smaller asparagus spear/stalk, not so much.  After awhile on each one, I’d stop and just throw a larger piece in the  bowl.
3. *THIS IS THE PART I DIDN’T DO*  Combine 8 cups water and white vinegar in a large skillet; bring to a simmer. Break each egg into a custard cup, and pour each gently into pan. Cook 3 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove eggs from pan using a slotted spoon.
4. Place about 2/3 cup asparagus mixture on each of 4 plates. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons almonds; top each serving with 1 egg. Sprinkle evenly with Manchego cheese.  *I don’t get this fancy.  I tossed everything in a bowl.

It was DELICIOUS!  Crisp, fresh and some nice tang with all the flavors.  Highly recommend it!  I can’t decide if next time I’m going to try cutting the asparagus with a mandolin or V-slicer or cutting them in half and using the food processor with the proper blade.  I just need to hope the hit the blade horizontally to slice properly.  Though, I guess even if not, they’ll taste the same!