Spring Greens Salad with Ham and Asparagus; the Lawn

 Remember this from last week?

Now it looks like this: Propre, as the French would say…

Well, close anyway.

It needs to be raked again.

But, this weekend:

He cut and chopped; I raked.

He did a first cut with the strimmer (weed whip); I raked.

He mowed, shorter cut; I raked.

He mowed again, final cut; I couldn’t convince my arms to rake again….

But look!  We have lawn!

We also have a snake in the cellar that was not best pleased with all the activity in his, heretofore quiet, habitat.

Well, I only know of one… There could be more, but I only, personally, witnessed one.

He was making a beeline for the open door into the house when he spotted the hole in the foundation for the water pipe, leading into the cellar.

My but they slither fast.

I think I’ll leave the bottom half of that door closed from now on.

Since it’s still spring, I’m still on an asparagus-ham-spinach binge.

Different iteration….  White asparagus.

Spring Greens Salad with Asparagus and Ham

8oz (250gr) ham or smoked turkey
8oz (250gr) asparagus, white or green
3oz (90gr) goat cheese, not the spread but a proper cheese 
2 eggs, hard-boiled
6oz (180gr) spinach, mesclun, dandelion or any other fresh spring greens
1/3 cup sliced radishes
Creamy Herb Dressing

Hard boil eggs.
Snap off ends of asparagus. If white use vegetable peeler and peel bottom half of stalk. Roll cut (cut the end off at an angle, roll 1/4 turn and cut next piece at an angle, roll 1/4 and cut next piece, etc.) asparagus in 1 1/2 inch (4 cm) lengths. Fill large saucepan half full of water and bring to a boil over high heat. When boiling, drop in asparagus and parboil for 2 minutes if green, 3 if white. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water.
Prepare greens and put into a large bowl.  Add half of the dressing and toss well with tongs to combine. Arrange on a shallow platter, flat salad bowl or two plates.
Slice ham/turkey into strips and cheese into rounds. Clean and slice radishes.  Peel and quarter eggs.   Arrange ham, eggs, asparagus, radishes and cheese nicely on top of spinach. Drizzle a bit of dressing over all and serve, extra dressing on the side.

Creamy Herb Dressing

1/2 cup Greek or plain yogurt (4oz, 125ml)
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs fresh snipped chives
1 tbs fresh snipped tarragon
3 tbs olive oil – the good stuff

Whisk together the yogurt, mustard and lemon juice.  Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly.  Stir in herbs.

One hardly ever thinks of a machete as a good investment, does one?

I do now

For more recipes flip through my cook book:  Easy Gourmet Dinners