The Punishment for Being Late

It’s become my rule. Invited to a BBQ? Bring something not for the grill.

I’ve learned my lesson. I’m a late girl. I come from a late family. We are late. Always late. So if I want to bring something for the grill, I always get there too late. The grill is taken.

That is why I bring a side. Sure, it’s more cooking then bringing marinated eggplant rounds, but people expect more from me anyway.

This past weekend my coworker threw a party for her daughter’s middle school graduation. It was a cook-out. So while I longed to be lazy and just bring my fresh bundle of asparagus bought that day from the Mount Pleasant Farmers’ Market to throw on the grill—I didn’t. I whipped it into a salad instead.

Asparagus and Cannellini Bean Salad

Boil the asparagus for 2 minutes in salted water, shock in cold water, then drain. Cut into bite-size pieces. In the same pot, with the water dumped out, add in oil and drop the cut asparagus back in. Although the asparagus is basically cooked, I like to brown it a bit and give it some more flavor, but don’t keep them in so long that they turn soggy. Then add in a can of drained cannellini beans and 3 cloves of chopped garlic.

In a bowl mix together equal parts (about a spoonful) grainy dijon mustard and horseradish with a touch of oil, salt and pepper.

And oh miracle of miracles somehow my garlic chives stuffed into tupperware survived my two week absence from the kitchen. I chopped about 8 strands up and put them in a mixing bowl. On top of that I crumbled lots of feta. Then I poured the asparagus-bean mixture on top, stirred in the mustard mixture, added more feta, salt and pepper.

The feta partly melted to make the combination extra creamy. Sprinkle with extra feta and coarse sea salt on top.