Asparagus & Arugula Salad with a Poached Egg on Toast

So I really wanted to wait until local asparagus was available before I posted an asparagus recipe this Spring, but this week I finally broke down and bought some of the imported stuff from the grocery store.  I was feeling too left out because it seems like every other blogger I follow has been posting asparagus recipes for a month now, but our asparagus season in Ontario hasn’t even begun yet (though it should really soon!) 

Of course, as soon as I got home I discovered that my asparagus smelled like someone had used it as toilet paper – so gross.  Serves me right for being impatient!  I tried Googling if smelly asparagus is still edible, but the only links that came up were about smelly pee from asparagus, so I decided to just give it a good rinse and use it anyway because it still looked fine as long as I kept my nose at a proper distance!  Turned out that it was fine once cooked, but I learned my lesson and will wait for the fresh stuff before I make my next asparagus dish.

I hope I didn’t turn you off this dish talking about smelly asparagus, because it was really good - it’s light and fresh and tastes just like Spring!  Peppery arugula is tossed in a light lemon dressing, topped with asparagus that’s been roasted just long enough to soften it up a bit and deepen its flavour but still keep it crisp, followed by a poached egg with a runny yolk that makes everything creamy and delicious.  I liked this so much that I made it again the next night (stinky asparagus and all), but this time added a piece of hearty Bavarian rye toast, which made the whole thing even better.  This makes a great lunch or light dinner, but could easily be eaten for breakfast or brunch too!

I'm hoping that the market will have some local Spring veggies available this weekend (though it will more likely be the following weekend), I'm not sure I can wait much longer!

Roasted Asparagus and Arugula Salad with Poached Egg

Adapted from Cooking Light

Serves 1

Ingredients:

Roasted Asparagus:

Handful of asparagus stalks (desired amount for one serving)

1-2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Arugula Salad:

2 handfuls of baby arugula

1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon minced shallot

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

Poached Egg:

2 tablespoons white vinegar or white wine vinegar

Dash of salt

1 large egg

Assembling:

Salt & Pepper

Freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 or 2 slices of hearty whole grain bread, toasted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F.  Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus spears where they naturally break off.  Toss asparagus with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare dressing by whisking oil, lemon juice, shallot, and Dijon in a small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Toss with arugula in a small bowl.

Fill a large skillet almost to the rim with water (or fill a shallow saucepan with a couple inches of water) and bring to a gentle boil. Add vinegar and salt to water. Break egg into a small cup, then bring the edge of the cup to the water and gently tip the egg into the water.  Turn off heat, cover, and let cook for 4 minutes (or 3 minutes for a runnier yolk).  Lift the egg out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set on a paper towel to drain.

Transfer arugula to a plate with the toast (you can either put the arugula on top of the toast or on the side), add roasted asparagus and poached egg atop the toast, and top with parmesan and salt and pepper.

*Note: You can use 2 poached eggs instead of 1 if you want this to be more filling