Spring Fling Salad

Spring is back! The temps are in the 70s, which means asparagus spears are popping up, alongside ripening sugar peas, radishes, and more. Here's my take on a salad which combines many of my favorite flavors of spring. I've added a little pizzazz with some mint - it's a nod to the Thai and Vietnamese way of using herbs as salad greens. 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fava beans, husked, blanched, and shelled

1/2 cup sugar peas, blanched for 1 minute, then shocked with cold water

8 spears asparagus, cut into 2 inch lengths, blanched for 1 minute, then shocked with cold water

2 radishes, thinly sliced

1/4 cup feta or dairy free feta, crumbled

3 cups salad greens

1/4 cup mint leaves

honey lemon salad dressing

1 lemon, sliced

Directions: Fill a medium size sauce pan half full with water, then heat over medium high heat until the water comes to a boil. Drop in the husked fava beans and blanch for one minute. Remove the fava beans with a slotted spoon and drop into cold water to stop the cooking. Add the sugar peas to the boiling water,  blanch them, then drop into cold water. Finally, add the asparagus, blanch, and cool. Slice the radishes. Divide the lettuce between four salad plates. Mix in the beans, peas, asparagus, and radishes. Top with feta and mint, then pour about 1 tablespoon of dressing over each salad. Add a lemon slice on the side. 

Serves 4

Stealthy Cooking Tip: I used many vegetables from my garden, but spring vegetables are also available at farmer's markets and grocery stores. Use vegetables that are in season for the freshest taste. To make this dairy free, I used Violife Just Like Feta, a vegan, plant based substitute that I find delicious.