Roasted Asparagus Salad With Berries and Raspberry Vinaigrette

From the Dole Company-as found on a bunch of fresh asparagus spears. (Yep, I played around with the recipe.) The original recipe uses bottled raspberry dressing. Roasting the asparagus brings out the delicious flavor, whereas steaming seems to make it soggy, in my opinion. When shopping for asparagus look for spears with stalks that are uniform in size and leaves that are tightly close, indicating freshness.

• Ready In: 22 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 lb asparagus (read *NOTE)
• 10  ounces  italian blend  mixed greens (or similar) or 10  ounces romaine lettuce
• 1  cup strawberries, hulled and stemmed (strawberries sliced-raspberries left whole) or 1  cup raspberries (strawberries sliced-raspberries left whole)
• 1⁄2 cup  vidalia onion, peeled and cut into crescents
• 1⁄4 cup  sliced almonds, toasted

• Vinaigrette

• 1⁄2 cup raspberries, unsweetened
• 1⁄4 cup  frozen apple juice concentrate
• 2  tablespoons  white balsamic vinegar or 2  tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1⁄2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar, to taste
•  white pepper, to taste

Directions

1. *NOTE: See Recipe #11040 for roasting directions. Omit all of the ingredients in the recipe except for the olive oil.
2. VINAIGRETTE: Prepare vinaigrette in non-reactive bowl and blend until smooth, using an immersion blender. Best prepared 1 hour in advance.
3. Once asparagus is roasted, set aside to cool then cut into 1 1/2" pieces.
4. SALAD: In a large salad bowl, combine the mixed greens, cooled asparagus, berries and onions with about 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Toss gently to coat.
5. Sprinkle top of salad with almonds. Serve remaining salad dressing on the side.