Tasty Asparagus Wraps

East more salads they said, "it's good for you". Leave it to me to take a salad and make it bad for you.  Everything is better with bacon, right?  How about thick cut apple smoked bacon wrapped around blanched asparagus spears?

I made a beautiful green salad, with fresh lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes from my garden, celery, chopped tricolor peppers and sliced hard boiled eggs.  Most people would be satisfied with this abundant healthy meal but not me.  As I opened the refrigerator, the apple smoked bacon was calling my name.  Normally I take left over French bread (cubed) and fried it in the bacon grease to make homemade croutons for the salad but wanted to try something different this time. My family and friends love them and eat them for snacks, they're that good!

I had a fresh bunch of asparagus and blanched them in a pot of water for three minutes. This left them crunchy but pliable.  After drying them with paper towels, I wrapped the apple smoked bacon around them securing them with a toothpick. They were placed on a wire rack that was on a cookie sheet.  After baking at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, the results were a crispy and delightful topping for my garden salad. 

To finish off the indulgence, I whipped two egg whites and coated pecan halves and sprinkled them with dark brown sugar.  They were toasted in the oven for 6 minutes and added that salty sweet perfection to the salad.  The dressing was a lemon vinaigrette with fresh dill that was drizzled lightly over the salad.

I guess my version is not what they had in mind when they said, "eat more salad"!