Spring salad

Last week my 73 years old father sent me in Paris some artichokes and lemons that he proudly grew in his beautiful garden in Sorrento, my hometown in Italy.

I was happy as a child when I received them.

I love both artichokes and lemons so much! I was so proud of my dad and looking at them, so ripe and beautiful, I thought, what an excellent result he achieved! I called him immediately to congratulate him.

As Spring is in season, I looked also for some asparagus, mixed salad leaves, fresh and small fava beans and raspberries to make a Sunday’s salad as I wanted to celebrate and be grateful for what I received.

This is a very easy salad to make and doesn’t really need any instructions except for the fact of marinating the artichokes and the asparagus – both peeled and cut in thin slices – in some water with the juice of two lemons for about 20 minutes.

Remember to always remove the outer leaves of the artichokes until you get to the tender ones; then you can cut it.

The lemon juice diluted in the water will give the artichokes that beautiful golden colour and it will make them tender, while still being crunchy.

After they have marinated, drain all the water and put them under some clean water, dry them and dispose all the ingredients in a dish.

Prepare the vinaigrette separately and pour it on the salad afterwards.

I advice to eat these vegetables raw when you are sure that they are really fresh, otherwise it will be better to toss them and cook them in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, salt and pepper for a couple of minutes.

Hope you will enjoy this Spring salad as much as I did.