The First Salad of Spring

Food writers talk about vegetables like they're a stable thing, but the truth is that good fresh

food is a moving target -- it's a bit different every time you use it. We cooks have to taste our way through the Greenmarket or produce aisle (surreptitiously, of course) because depending on season, sunlight, climate, and growing conditions, kale or broccoli or Bibb lettuce can be bitter or sweet, chewy or limp, sublime or forgettable. 

This salad plays beautifully to spring's first ingredients, with the light, lemony aioli dressing bringing out the sweetness of caramelized shallots, roasted red onions, and broccoli. 

Roasted Broccoli and Red Onions with Caramelized Shallots and Aioli

Serves 4


For the aioli:

1 egg yolk, at room temperature 
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced shallot
Sea salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper


For the salad:

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 large shallots
Sea salt
1 pound young broccoli crowns or broccolini, ends trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch florets
2 red onions
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more to taste

http://food52.com/blog/12562-the-first-salad-of-spring?utm_term=6593473&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20160429_eds_springchickens