Balsamic Asiago Salad

Earth Day this week, and Mason celebrated by organizing a backyard cleanup that nobody asked for and everyone participated in. He made signs: "CLEAN UP EARTH," "RECYCLE PLEASE," "BUGS LIVE HERE TOO." He taped them to the fence. He picked up trash from the alley behind our house — three bags, mostly cigarette butts and fast food wrappers — and sorted them into recyclables and landfill with the meticulous attention of a seven-year-old environmentalist who has found his cause.

Lily participated by collecting rocks, which she insisted were "Earth's bones" and needed to be "rescued." The rocks are now in a pile by the back door. I have been told they are staying.

I planted the warm-season garden this week: tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, basil, cucumbers. The raised beds are full. The soil is rich from the compost I've been adding all winter. I put my hands in the dirt and felt the familiar pull — the ranch girl, the daughter of ranchers, the granddaughter of ranchers, the woman whose family has been putting things in dirt and watching them grow for three generations. The garden is my ranch. Seven feet by four feet of raised bed is my hundred acres. It's enough.

At the clinic, we celebrated Earth Day too — a pet adoption event in the parking lot, partnered with the Idaho Humane Society. We found homes for six dogs and four cats in one afternoon. I held a small terrier mix during the event, a dog nobody wanted because she was old and nervous and barked at strangers, and a woman came by and said, "That one. She looks like she needs someone to be patient with her," and took her home. I cried in the break room afterward, because sometimes the world gets it right, and when it does, you feel it in your chest like a bell ringing.

I made a garden-to-table dinner even though the garden has barely started: salad from the spring lettuce, with radishes and peas and a simple vinaigrette. The salad was small and green and entirely ours — every leaf from our dirt, every pea from our vine — and we ate it as a first course, ceremoniously, like it was the most important salad in the world. To us, it was.

That small salad we ate on Earth Day — every leaf from our raised bed, every pea we shelled ourselves — reminded me that the simplest food can feel like the most ceremonious. This Balsamic Asiago Salad is the grown-up version of that instinct: fresh greens, a clean tangy vinaigrette, and just enough richness from the asiago to make it feel like something worth sitting down for. It’s the kind of recipe that honors a garden without asking too much of it.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

6 cups mixed salad greens (such as romaine, green leaf, or spring mix)
1/2 cup shaved or shredded Asiago cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, minced garlic, salt, and pepper until emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Prepare the greens. Place the mixed salad greens in a large salad bowl. Add the sliced red onion and cherry tomatoes, and toss gently to combine.
Dress the salad. Drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette over the greens — start with about half and add more to your taste. Toss to coat evenly.
Finish with cheese. Top the dressed salad with shaved or shredded Asiago cheese. Serve immediately so the greens stay crisp.

Nutrition (per serving)

Balsamic Asiago Salad — From Our Dirt, to Our Table