Bob’s wife, Eva, and their daughter, Susie, had just left for Sicily when Bob hosted a potluck get-together at his home. Because asparagus was in season, I wanted something to serve cold that would be easy to eat with a fork. No hand-twirling asparagus spears in hollandaise for people standing up holding plates! I combined two recipes from the Food Network to make asparagus-campanile-kalamata salad with honey mustard vinaigrette. It was good, and even better the next day. I think maybe people mistook it for ordinary bean salad. Next time I will buy three bunches of asparagus and use only the top halfs for the buffet dish, reserving the lower stalk for myself at home. I will slice on the diagonal a use a smaller red bowl and a tablespoon for a serving spoon. My gluten-free friends simply picked out the pasta. I ran out of time to sliver the kalamata olives so there were too few. It should be mostly asparagus tips, 1/3 pasta and 1/6 olives.

To really look like asparagus on a crowded buffet table, it needs to be bright emerald and half “spear tops.” I should take it out of the boiling water as soon as it turns emerald. It will cook a few seconds more before cooling, and marinating it overnight will make it taste “cooked.” Marinating the pasta will also soften it, so cook it al dente. Chilled dishes should be a little crunchy. I substituted seasoned (salt and sugar) rice vinegar for white vinegar, and whole-seed Dijon for smooth which did not improve it. The honey is important for the body of the dressing so I am showing the original recipe because that’s probably the best.

2 lemons, juiced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
4 tablespooms olive oil

The video shows how to stiffen the stalks in an ice bath, poach them briefly, then plunge back in the ice bath again. The color and crunchiness of the asparagus is crucial for the attractive presentation. Leave some time to drain thoroughly so that you are dressing dry stalks. Cut on the diagonal. Cut off white, then cut in half and reserve bottoms for home. With the pretty top-halfs, cut into fork-size pieces so that at least half are clearly spear-shaped tops. Marinate overnight.