Charred asparagus, cucumber and pink onion salad

This is a great salad to make the most of the spring produce - asparagus, radishes and mint. Later in the year, when asparagus is finished I replace it with mange tout or sugarsnaps for a an equally delicious dish. Because of the sharp, pickled flavour from the onions this is a good match with barbecued meat or with rich, cheesy dishes such as moussaka or lasagne.

Serves 4 as a side

2 small red onions
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
200g asparagus
4 radishes, thinly sliced into rounds
½ cucumber
10g mint leaves, stems removed and
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
10 borage flowers, fuzzy backs removed

For the dressing:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp onion pickling liquor (see recipe)
¼ tsp  dijon mustard
Pinch of pul biber chilli flakes
Sea salt and black pepper

1. Peel the onions and then cut in half and into wedges. I cut each half into 5 or 6 wedges. Separate the layers of the wedges into pieces and put in a bowl. Pour over boiling water and leave for 60 seconds. This removes some of the ‘heat’ of the onions and improves their digestibility. Strain the water off the onions and add the white wine vinegar, granulated sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Leave the onions to pickle for at least 15 minutes. but a couple of hours is better.

2. Snap the woody ends off the asparagus. Put them in a bowl and drizzle over some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Now cook the asparagus, either do this over a fire or BBQ or on a griddle pan on the hob.

3. On a griddle pan heat the pan until very hot, put the asparagus on the griddle and cook for about a minute on each side, pressing down a little if you want nice griddle marks. On the BBQ they will take a similar time to cook.

4. Thinly slice the radishes into rounds. Cut the cucumber in half, remove the seeds and then cut into 0.5cm slices on an angle. Bunch the mint leaves together and roll up and cut into very thin strips (this is called chiffonade). Mix together the mint, cucumber and radishes in a bowl. Add the charred asparagus and most of the pink onions, straining off the pickling liquor first.

5. Make the dressing by combining the olive oil, one tablespoon of the pickling liquor from the onions, the Dijon mustard, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and mix well. Drizzle the dressing over the vegetables and mix. Put the salad in a serving dish and decorate with the reserved pink onions, a sprinkling of pul biber chilli flakes and a few borage flowers if you have them.