foodwineclick

Asparagus soup, salad & Unti Rose’

I wanted to make a nice Mother’s day lunch for my wife, Julie.  Our daughter, Casey, will be joining us for dinner today, but it’s a beautiful day and one of the first where we would want to eat out on the patio.

Julie loves asparagus, and it is one vegetable that I really, really don’t like.  I’ll cook it as a vegetable, but I won’t usually base a meal around it.  I had run into this recipe the other day on My Fancy Pantry, and it seemed just right: Asparagus Soup with Tarragon and Chevre.  Shari does a great job with both the recipe and the photos on her blog, so I won’t try to duplicate them here.  Go and look!  I made the soup and the toasts to go with it.

Salad fixings just before dressing and tossing.

My contribution to the meal was a salad to accompany the soup.  Here are the ingredients, I used:

• Organic spring greens
• Thinly sliced onion
• Strawberries
• Fresh Chevre (left over from the soup recipe)
• Toasted slivered almonds
• Uncured Soppressata
• Dressing: balsamic vinegar

We like really light salad dressings, often relying on just balsamic vinegar; no oil.  All those beautiful ingredients do just fine without any oil.

Last summer, we discovered Rose’.  If you haven’t tried a dry Rose’ out on the deck in the summer, you really should.  Proper Rose’s bear no resemblence to the sweet pink wines we used to see in the states.  The Unti Rose’ was a nice match with the soup and the salad.  Dry, crisp, very drinkable.  The acidity  also does a great job clearing your palate between bites.  A proper start to the Rose’ season in Minnesota!

Julie, celebrating Mother’s Day and kicking off Rose’ season on the patio

Happy Mother’s Day!