Arugula and Asparagus Salad

I grew arugula in the garden this year and was searching for a way to use it when I came across this recipe for arugula and asparagus in a salad.  How perfect is that?  I have loads of arugula and loads of asparagus in the garden.  I happened to have the rest of the ingredients on hand (or reasonable facsimiles thereof), so I made it for dinner a few nights ago and it was delicious.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but you can click on the link to see what it looked like.

Also, I didn't measure my ingredients and it turned out just fine.

10-14 asparagus spears

2 slices of bacon

fresh arugula

1 shallot, sliced

1 orange, peeled and segmented*

1 orange, juiced*

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/4 cup freely grated pecorino roma (or parmesan)

Snap the ends off of the asparagus and discard or save for later use.  Using a vegetable peeler, carefully peel the asparagus spears into long ribbons, starting from bottom to top.  Set aside.

Heat a skillet to medium heat.  Chop bacon and add it to the skillet, browning until crisp.  Remove bacon and drain on a paper towel, leaving the drippings in the pan.  Add asparagus and shallot to the skillet and stir to coat.  Cook for 5-6 minutes or until asparagus softens and shallot is translucent.

Put arugula in a large salad bowl.  Add orange slices, vinegar and orange juice and mix thoroughly.  Add asparagus and bacon, tossing to coat and mix the entire salad.  Season with salt and pepper if desired (I forgot to do this).  After serving onto plates, sprinkle with cheese to taste.

*I didn't have an orange, so I used mandarin oranges in place of the orange segments and a little under a half a cup of prepared orange juice in place of the fresh squeezed.

And, I wasn't sure how to harvest the arugula or if it would continue to grow after I harvested it.  So, I just used scissors to cut the whole clump off a couple of inches from the ground.

And, I'm pleasantly surprised to see that it is growing back.  This is something that will definitely be in my garden plan next year.

Who knew arugula was so yummy?