Orange-Drenched Asparagus

Tonight's dinner was another dish out of "The Cook's Book of Intense Flavors".  I bought asparagus the other day and forgot to make it all week, and tonight was pretty much its last chance before the trash. So I made it the main event. The highlighted flavors for this were asparagus (derrr), oregano, and orange.

Again, I must say, this book is so great.  It has so many awesome ideas in it, and nothing too off the wall. Since I think its probably some kind of copyright infringement to give the entire recipe here, I will give the Cliff's Notes version.

• Blanch some asparagus so that its still pretty firm.
• Hard boil 2 eggs, peel and dice. 
• Toast and chop 2 tbs of almonds.
• Segment 1 orange (I actually only used half an orange, I think thats enough)

Make a dressing with the following:

• small shallot, diced small
• 2 tbs Champagne vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• zest and juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange
• 2 tbs fresh oregano leaves, chopped
• salt and pepper

Add the almonds, egg, and orange segments to the dressing, and pour over the asparagus on the plate!  Mateus was a little freaked out about the flavor combo, but once he tried it he was a big fan.  It came out delish.  It didn't say in the book if this is meant for a side dish, but with the egg and everything we thought it was a great main course.

We also bulked it up by splitting a small toasted cheese on the side, mostly because we have amazing bread in the house right now.  If you ever see the brand "Bread Alone" in your market, BUY IT!  Their "peasant bread" is my favorite bread ever.