Asparagus Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette

• FOR THE LEMON VINAIGRETTE:
• 1/4 cups Freshed Squeezed Lemon Juice
• 1/2 teaspoons Lemon Zest
• 3/4 teaspoons White Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons Salt
• 1/2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
• 1/8 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 cups Olive Oil
• FOR THE SALAD:
• 1/4 pounds Very Thinly Sliced Pancetta, Diced Or Chopped
• 24 whole Medium Stalks Asparagus, Rinsed And Tough Ends Removed
• 1/2 Small Purple Onion, Thinly Sliced Into Half Rings
• 4 Tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese

1. For the lemon vinaigrette:
2. Into a blender add the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, salt, Dijon mustard and black pepper. With the blender running on low speed, drizzle the olive into the other ingredients to create an emulsion. Put dressing in a serving container, cover and refrigerate while preparing salad.
3. For the salad:
4. In a small frying pan over medium heat, fry pancetta just until crispy. Do not over cook. Remove pancetta onto several stacked paper towels to drain. Set aside.
5. Prepare a vegetable steamer and bring water to a boil. While water is heating, diagonally cut the asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Place asparagus in the steamer and steam for 2 minutes. Remove asparagus from steamer and immediately cool under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Drain.
6. Lightly toss asparagus and purple onion half rings together in a bowl. Divide the mixture into 4 individual serving bowls or salad plates. Top each serving with 1/4 of the grated Parmesan cheese and 1/4 of the pancetta crumbles. Allow each person to add dressing as desired.
7. Notes:
8. - Bacon, fried crisp and crumbled, can be substituted for the pancetta.
9. - Do not overcook the asparagus. It should be crisp-tender.

lemon vinaigrette, ubc, lemon zest, white sugar, salt, dijon mustard, ground black pepper, olive oil, salad, ubc, stalks asparagus, purple onion, parmesan cheese

Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/salads/asparagus-salad-with-lemon-vinaigrette/ (may not work)