Warm & Smokey Asparagus Salad
Fresh asparagus is one of my favorite signs of spring. This salad is a fabulous, no fuss way to enjoy it. Whip it up when you start cooking dinner, then let the flavors happily meld together while you finish preparing the rest of your meal.
Asparagus and bacon are a match made in heaven.
For this dish, I fried a little smokey Black Forest bacon, then caramelized bits of shallot in the sumptuous fat left behind. The asparagus took a quick spin in the pan (long enough to cook it through—but not make it mushy).
Crispy Black Forest bacon
The crispy bacon chips add texture, salt, and a nice crunch. A finishing squeeze of fresh lemon juice brightens up the asparagus and rounds out the flavors nicely.
I made this with a few pieces Black Forest bacon from Whole Foods (look for it in the butcher’s case). If you can’t find it, you can totally use regular bacon with great results. The Black Forest bacon is extra smokey and just a tiny bit sweet.
Black Forest bacon from Whole Foods
I won’t lie. This stuff is seriously good. I made it the other night when we had a friend over for dinner. It took a valiant act of hostessing to share.
A note on asparagus
When buying asparagus, look for stalks that are on the thinner side, with nice, tight heads.
You can totally leave the asparagus whole for a slightly fancier presentation. I cut my stalks in a few pieces.
Always trim off and discard the ends of the stalks, which can be woody.
Warm & Smokey Asparagus Salad
4 slices Black Forest bacon (or regular bacon)
1/2 a shallot, peeled and chopped
about 1 lb. asparagus, cut into pieces
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
juice from 1/2 a lemon
Serves 4 as a side dish
Crisp up the bacon
Line a medium-sized bowl with a few paper towels and set it aside.
Chop up the bacon.
Put it in a nonstick pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Spread it out, so that each piece can brown.
Cook like this for maybe 5 minutes.
Stir the bacon occasionally.
You want it to get nice and crisp.
When it looks about like this, it’s just about done.
Scoop the bacon out of the pan with a slotted spoon. Transfer it to your paper towel-lined bowl. Set it aside for a minute while you deal with the veggies.
Caramelize the shallots
Toss your chopped shallot into the bacon fat that remains in the pan. (If there’s a lot of it, drain a little off if you like.)
Keep the heat on medium-high, and saute the shallots for a few minutes. Give them a stir to coat in bacon fat.
You want them to become translucent…
…and then start to brown nicely.
Saute the asparagus
Grab your cut asparagus.
Add it to the pan with the shallots and bacon fat. Toss on a little kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Give it a good stir to coat the asparagus. Cook like this, stirring occasonally, for 3-4 minutes. Keep the heat on medium-high. The whole dish comes together pretty quickly.
After 3-4 minutes, the asparagus should be cooked through—or darn close to it. Poke it with a fork or the tip of a knife to check. Cook it to the tenderness you like. I prefer mine with a little bit of bite still left in it, so I usually yank it off the stove sooner, rather than later.
Finish the salad, serve, and enjoy!
When the asparagus is cooked to your liking, add the crisp bacon back to the pan.
Give it a stir to combine. Squeeze a half a lemon over the pan. (Yank out any lemon seeds you may see.) Give it all a stir to combine.
Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and set it aside on the counter. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Or, you know, serve it immediately if you can’t wait. Enjoy!
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36 Comments
I have GOT to stop reading your posts AFTER i cook dinner. Wait, no… if I read before, we’d have twin blogs.
This looks seriously good. I applaud you for your hostess efforts. I would have eaten the whole thing myself. I like to wrap asparagus with prosciutto before roasting, but I think I am going to like this one even more. I love asparagus. I love bacon. Who the hell wouldn’t like this?
This bacon and asparagus are so gorgeous that my heart skipped a beat! Dinner urgently for me
That black forest bacon is some of my favorite stuff
Nice dish!
Nick
Macheesmo
This sounds like a great salad to try on my German born Thumper.Although I am sure it is a product name.The Black Forrest does have a smoked bacon and ham.
Awesome girl keep them coming.
Have to tell you: love the eggplant fries!!!!
what a great way to make asparagus awesome! I really shouldn’t be reading this because now I am hungry it is almost 10!
Bacon in anything is delicious. I love the simplicity of this dish — bacon for salt and smoke, shallots for a mild onion flavor, lemon for brightness and freshness, and of course, asparagus for its crunch and flavor (and color). Beautifully done!!
That. Looks. Wicked. Good. I love asparagus, something I just found out about myself recently. Next time I buy some I’m definitely making this.
Oh dear, this is such a fabulous salad…..I love all the ingredients…together they can only be heavenly!!
First of all, can I just say, I LOVE that you use cast iron pans! None of the other cooking blogs I sometimes check out (yours is the only one I really follow) does that.
I love cast iron pans too!
Second: this looks sooo good! I love asparagus
I’m also thinking of converting this into a quiche – yum, onion asparagus and bacon… 
Oh thanks, honey pie!
Yeah, you can’t beat cast iron for most things (plus, most brands are so inexpensive, compared to good stainless). I have a few unusual pots, too…I’ll drag some of ‘em out and snap some photos when I reseason my pan.
And, OMG…quiche! You’re a genius! Let me know if you do?
+Jessie
two flawless ingredients. great job at the step by step photography. i can almost taste it! this is wonderful timing considering that pencil thin asparagus will start popping up in the local markets here in Georgia. our farmers have had some good luck growing asparagus and it’s nice to get it close to home. thanks for the recipe idea.
I love the idea of combining asparagus and bacon – that sounds awesome!
This looks delicious. Bacon makes everything better – I’ve never tried it with asparagus, but I can’t see why two great flavors wouldn’t match well together!
I’ve got bacon, asparagus, shallots and lemons in the fridge. I know one thing I’m making tonight! A quick question—do you think quickly blanching the asparagus would add anything? I agree with you that cooking for a short time to keep it on the crunchy side is good.
Oh, fabulous! So sorry for the delayed reply. I think the asparagus cooks just fine in the pan. I mean, you certainly *could* blanch it, then sautee it, but I’m not sure what it would add. Let me know how you like it!
+Jessie
oooh can’t go wrong with that flavor combo- sounds fantastic!
My sister just emailed me asking what I wanted to bring on Easter. This looks like a perfect dish for our gathering. I wonder if the bacon is too much with the ham she is getting??? Too much pork or is there such a thing?
Hehehe, thanks, Nicole! And there’s no such thing as too much pork!
+Jessie
The perfect recipe to utilize the best of spring!
Bacon!
Asparagus!
Does it get any better than this? Looks amazing!!!
This looks amazing. You had me at Bacon and Asparagus!
OH MY… that looks AMAZING! two of my favorite foods… WOW… I want some NOW!!!
The caramelized shallots with asparagus sounds great not to mention the bacon!
oh my-we are lovers of asparagus and bacon so this one is going to be made this weekend. By the way, I am running a great contest involving PEEPS. http//:savorthethyme.blogspot.com
Your photos are fantastic!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that bacon at my local Whole Foods, but I want some! Gorgeous dish
I just burnt this up tonight!Tweaked a little bit. Substituted turkey bacon and a dash of jalapeno pepper. Tasty, but i might’ve overdid it with the bacon. I was supposed to make a double batch but only doubled the bacon. I found out too late that I only had 1 bunch of asparagus. I’m washing it down with a Guinness so all is forgiven.
Gonna’ try again tomorrow and follow the recipe. That’s tough for me, ya’ know.
Love that bacon!
Thanks for providing more Bacon information to the World! Praise B!(acon)
asparagus is seriously one of my fav veggies ever. they give me smelly pee though! I love how you add all that bacon to it…so flavorful!
This looks good… Will definitely be trying it. I’m hungry already
tried this last weekend. my friends loved it. thanks.
Not sure I would call this a salad, but *yum*
could you use regular onions with this? I don’t like shallots. Please advise. I love your blog!!!