Green Green Salad W/Grilled Chicken & Creamy Honey Lemon Dressing

“Brace yourself,” I ordered my husband, as I dipped a piece of fresh spinach into the large measuring cup I was carrying.  “This may be the best salad dressing in the history of the word.”

And I dipped and he munched and he loved it and I grinned.
I was right: It IS the best dressing in the history of the world. But there is much more to this dinner/lunch/spring supper on the deck, that makes it special.

I am very much a texture person when it comes to food.  One of the reasons I love this Yogurt Salad so much is because it is creamy and crunchy, sweet and tangy, chewy and cold, all rolled into one.  It just works together.  This Green Green Salad is kind of like that, in that the different flavors make your tastebuds dance the hula.  I love to eat asparagus but I am always brainstorming ways to do something new with it that still pays homage to its incredible flavor.  I don’t want to cover up the freshness of these ingredients, just highlight them with a little brightness.
Why do I call it the Green Green Salad, you ask?  I would think that was obvious….
Green=Spring.  ‘Nuff said.

Also, Mother’s Day is coming up shortly.  This would be stellar with an ice cold beverage on the patio for the Mother you are looking to spoil in your life.  Or you could tweet, Pin, copy or share this post where your husband would see it.  Caption the link with ‘Doesn’t this look wonderful, honey?  Mmm.  What a GREAT lunch this would be this weekend…’
One Year Ago: Power Parfaits and Quinoa Granola & Honey Lemon Grilled Chicken
Two Years Ago: Chocolate Cheesecake Bars & Lemon Quick Bread
Three Years Ago: Strawberry Ice Cream, Sweet Veggie Pasta Salad & Black and White Angel Food Cake

Green Green Salad W/Creamy Honey Lemon Dressing
This salad is great with or without the grilled chicken.  Shrimp or salmon is fantastic with it as well if  you want to change up the protein.  This recipe makes 4 large salads.

Salad:
Fresh spring greens, or lettuce of your choice
half of an English cucumber, or 1 medium cucumber (peeled and/or scored) and diced
1 1/2 lb of asparagus, trimmed
2 T fresh chives
Honey Lemon Grilled Chicken

Dressing:
1/3 c olive or grape seed oil
2 T raw honey
2 T plain yogurt, Greek or regular is fine
zest of a full lemon
juice of HALF the lemon
pinch of salt and pepper

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and set aside.  Cut the asparagus into bite sized pieces and drop them into a large saucepan of simmering water to blanch.  Let cook no more than a minute or two, just to take the snap out of them a bit.  Drain and dump the asparagus into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.  When cool, drain well.  Layer the salad ingredients on individual plates according to appetite and top lightly with dressing.  Enjoy!