Asparagus Salad

Cathy found a recipe in the brand new cookbook by Deborah Madison: Vegetable Literacy for: Roasted Asparagus with Chopped Egg, Torn Bread, and Red Wine Vinegar. This was like a harmonic convergence, a brand new cookbook, asparagus being fresh in the market and bread from Bread Lounge being available in Silverlake! This is a fantastic salad. We have made it twice already. A great find.

Roasted Asparagus with Chopped Egg, Torn Bread, and Red Wine Vinegar

Vegetable Literacy

Deborah Madison

For 2

It's not hard to polish off an entire plate of asparagus for dinner. I included this recipe, courtesy of Amelia Saltsman, in What We Eat When We Eat Alone, and it was one of the readers' favorites, whether they were eating alone or sharing.

1 pound asparagus, preferably fat unless you prefer the thin

stalks

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the asparagus

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 piece sourdough or ciabatta

1 teaspoon coarse mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 egg, hard cooked

Heat the oven to 400°R

If the asparagus spears are thick, peel the stalks and cut off the tough stem ends. If thin, snap off the bottom of each stalk where it breaks easily and trim the ends. Toss the spears with 1 teaspoon oil to moisten, season well with salt and pepper, and lay them in a single layer in a shallow baking dish or sheet pan.

Roast the spears, turning them once every 10 minutes, until tender and colored in places, 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, crisp the bread in the oven.

To make the vinaigrette, combine the mustard, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then whisk in the oil. Chop the white and yolk of the egg.

Lay the asparagus on a platter. Cover with the chopped egg. Tear the bread into small, rough pieces and scatter over the egg. Spoon the vinaigrette over all and finish with freshly ground pepper.