This Year’s Best Summer Salad

This recipe for Grilled Asparagus Salad with Basil Vinaigrette has to be one of my favorite summer salads ever. All the green vegetables makes it a healthy lunch or dinner choice. But the real secret to making it onto my “best salad” list is the fresh basil vinaigrette. Oh my it is SO good!

I found the original recipe for this Grilled Asparagus Salad on one of my favorite food blogs, @LivingLou. My version adds extra greens (spinach). I typically use grape tomatoes instead of sun dried, and I usually use blue cheese instead of goat cheese because I LOVE blue cheese.

What’s makes Grilled Asparagus Salad so Good?

First let talk about all the fresh veggies

• Romaine lettuce–Chopped bite size-ish.
• Cucumbers–I like the English variety so I don’t have to peel them or seed them.
• Asparagus–Grilled and cut into pieces. I like the thinner asparagus because grill time is quicker.
• Green onion–I dice up both the green and white parts.
• Red onion–Thinly sliced (optional but a great addition)
• Tomatoes–Either diced grape tomatoes or I often use the sun dried version, also diced.
• Blue cheese (or goat cheese)–I add this right before serving the salad for a little extra punch of flavor. Yum!

For the basil vinaigrette dressing

• Olive oil–Make it a good-quality extra virgin olive oil. I use California Olive Ranch Everyday Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s easy to find, it’s reasonably priced and it’s darned tasty. And I love that it’s Made in the USA.
• White wine vinegar–I’ve been known to use rice vinegar and champagne vinegar with good results, too.
• Basil–It MUST be FRESH basil, so NO short cutting here.
• Garlic powder–Use just a smidge.
• Salt–I use Kosher salt.

I mix the dressing ingredients with my handheld stick blender but any blender will do the job.

How to Make Salad with Grilled Asparagus and Basil Vinaigrette

For the Asparagus

• Preheat an outdoor grill or stove top grill pan to medium heat.
• Place asparagus in a large bowl.
• Toss asparagus with olive oil and salt.
• Grill the asparagus for about 6-8 minutes, turning frequently, until charred and fairly soft.
• Let cool.
• Cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces.

For the Salad

• In a large mixing bowl, combine lettuce, spinach, cucumber, onion, avocado, tomatoes, blue/goat cheese and grilled asparagus.
• Add the vinaigrette to the salad bowl. Mix to combine thoroughly.

For the Vinaigrette

• Using a blender or handheld (stick) blender, blend the olive oil, vinegar, basil, garlic powder, and salt.

A few other favorite salads

Grilled Zucchini and Asparagus Salad

Topopo Salad

Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad

Print Recipe

Salad with Grilled Asparagus and Basil Vinaigrette

Author: Anita's Table Talk

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound asparagus
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 head romaine lettuce chopped
• 1 cup spinach chopped
• 1/2 English cucumber diced (or sliced thin)
• 2 green onions thinly sliced (green and white parts)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion (optional)
• 1 avocado diced
• 1/4 cup grape tomatoes diced (or sundried tomatoes)
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (or goat cheese, or feta cheese)

Basil Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2-3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

For the Asparagus

• PREHEAT outdoor grill or stove top grill pan to medium heat.
• PLACE asparagus in a large bowl. TOSS with olive oil and salt.
• GRILL asparagus for about 6-8 minutes, turning frequently, until charred and fairly soft.
• Let COOL.
• CUT asparagus into 1-inch pieces.

For the Salad

• In a large mixing bowl, COMBINE lettuce, spinach, cucumber, onion, avocado, tomatoes, asparagus, and blue/goat cheese.

For the Vinaigrette

• In a blender, BLEND olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt and garlic powder.
• COMBINE with salad to thoroughly coat and SERVE.