salty and sweet and savory and earthy

I wait all year for asparagus.  I wait all year for a lot of vegetables (i have no life) but asparagus is definitely top 3 material.  This salad/sidedish/snack is one of my favorite ways to eat it it.  If I can remember, it was inspired by a Mario Batali recipe of shaved asparagus in a lemon blah blah with shaved pecorino.  Honestly, all I heard was asparagus and shaved pecorino.  

When I bring this to parties and potlucks people freak out because the combo of sweet, salty, savory and earthy makes your mouth do insane things.  I plated this to look nice for a table, as the long, graceful stems of asparagus look so dainty cloaked in their little nibbles of nuts and sweets but when I eat it or serve it I cut the spears into more manageable pieces so you can get a bite of everything in each forkful.

Asparagus + Pecorino Salad

1 bunch fresh, local asparagus, tough ends removed

2-3 oz pecorino romano, shaved with vegetable peeler

1/2 cup nuts, toasted (vie used chopped hazelnuts, pistachio and slivered almonds)

1/4 cup golden raisins

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (this is just a shower, really, don't bathe it)

salt + fresh cracked pepper

drizzle of white truffle oil or sprinkle of truffle salt

1. Steam your asparagus for about 5 minutes, less if they're very thin, more if they're very thick.  Wait until it's bright green, basically, mostly tender but still crisp, then shut it off and either shock in an icebath to use it later or you can just lay it on the plate and dress it right now.

2. Dress with remaining ingredients and slosh it around a bit.  Let it sit for about 10 minutes aaaand scarf.