This is an amazing spring twist on nicoise salad – make it with fresh asparagus and high quality black olives and parmesan.  It’s complemented by the acidity of the lemon.  Adapted from the River Cafe Cook Book Green.

Ingredients

• 1 kg asparagus (the thinner the stalks, the better)
• 6 eggs
• 80 g black olives, pitted
• 3 T flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 tin anchovies in olive oil, drained
• juice of 1 lemon
• 150 g (or more) parmesan cheese, shaved
• a couple handfulls of arugula
• Maldon salt and extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Beak off the tough ends of the asparagus, and blanch for 5 minutes.  Drain and wash with cold water to cool, then season with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
2. Put eggs into a medium saucepan, cover with water (the water should be at least 1/2″ above the eggs), and bring to a boil.  As soon as the water starts boiling, turn off the heat and cover – let stand for 6-7 minutes.
3. Drain eggs and dunk in an ice bath to cool.  After a few minutes, when they are cooled, peel and cut eggs into quarters lengthwise.
4. On a large plate, arrange asparagus spears on top of arugula.  Arrange olives, parsley, and eggs on top.  Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice, the sprinkle with parmesan shavings.