Asparagus, Pecorino and Red Onion Salad

Do you watch Secrets of a Restaurant Chef on the Food Network? It's one of my favorite shows- Anne Burrell is really very funny- she talks to all of her food and uses more salt than can possibly be healthy! Normally, her foods are a little more involved than what I have time to tackle, but when I saw this recipe for a simple asparagus salad, I figured that I could handle it. I love recipes like this that let the flavors of the veggies really shine through. My mom picked up a lovely bunch of asparagus at the produce stand this weekend and instead of roasting it like I usually do, I made a version of Anne's recipe instead.

Here's my version:

• 1/2 bunch pencil asparagus, tough bottom stems removed
• generous pinch finely diced red onion
  
• generous pinch Parmesan cheese
  
• few sprinkles red-wine vinegar
  
• drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
• fresh ground sea salt salt

Directions

Cut the asparagus, including the tips into very thin slices, crosswise and place in a medium bowl. Add the red onion and Parmesan and toss to combine. Dress with the vinegar, olive oil and salt and toss again. This salad should be fairly heavily dressed. The vinegar will sort of "cook" or tenderize the asparagus.

The recipe recommends letting this sit for a bit to let the flavors marry. I didn't do this tonight, but I have left overs in the fridge, so I am thinking that this might even taste better tomorrow. I didn't measure- she makes it look so easy on TV to just throw in a bit of this and a bit of that. I think that I'll pay more attention to proportions next time- I don't think that my salad had enough dressing, even through it was very good!