One Great . . . asparagus and avocado salad

This spring has turned weather on its side. Chilly one morning and hot that afternoon, it barely feels like we've gotten a winter at all.

Even though it has felt like spring off and on since January, it's finally time to get in the mood for the real spring. In honor of a year that's been turned on its side, I'm going to offer a salad that turned my world on its side.

Jim Lahey's Co. in New York is a pizza restaurant. And it certainly makes fine pies. But when I went there with a friend a couple of years ago, what really blew me away wasn't the pizza, it was the salads. One taste of this combination and I never looked at asparagus the same way again. I've made a few stabs at trying to re-create it, with some luck. But even more lucky: Lahey's new book, "My Pizza," just came out and it includes the recipe.

The window is short for having all the ingredients right at the same time -- asparagus, avocado and mint. But if ever there was a spring when crazy things happened at once, this would be it. If you grow mint, check your mint patch -- mine never really stopped this winter.

Asparagus and Avocado Salad
From "My Pizza," by Jim Lahey (Clarkson Potter, 2012).

4 or 5 thick asparagus spears
1 avocado, halved, pitted and peeled
16 fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/2 lime
About 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of fine sea salt per serving

Cut away about 2 inches of the base of each asparagus spear. Using a sharp vegetable peeler, shave the entire asparagus from bottom to top, reversing your grip and turning the spear as needed to shave as much as possible.
Divide the asparagus shavings among 4 salad plates. Cut each avocado half into 4 sections and place 2 wedges on each plate. Sprinkle with mint leaves. Squeeze lime juice over the salads, drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with salt.

Yield: 4 servings.

What's coming up in food world

• Get your chili on at the 7th annual Plaza-Midwood/Chantilly Chili Cookoff Saturday. Gates open at noon at 1318 Central Ave., near Sammy's and the Family Dollar. There also will be live bands, a bake sale, a bike show, a raffle and other stuff. $10 gets you a lot of samples, and raises money for Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte. Drink tickets are also available "for a reasonable price," according to the release. Of course, if it's five-alarm chili, "reasonable price" might mean "how much are you willing to pay for a squirt from a fire hose"? Details: www.pmccookoff.com or email Nancy Cole at colen@hpccr.org.
• HoneyByrd Sweets is back to making toffee after Howard and Kathryn both were sidelined by health troubles. They won't have their stands at the Charlotte Regional or Matthews Community farmers markets, but they's taking orders for the holdays and offering free shipping. Get the details and the list of candies at www.honeybyrd.com.
• Go, Kim Hansen! The Charlotte blogger is a finalist in the Avocado League, an online contest for game-day avocado recipes feature the hometown flavors of the eight finalists. She needs online votes through Oct. 28 to win $5,000 and a year's worth of avocados. Her recipe for Avocado and Cream Sauce is currently in second place, behind Chicago but ahead of that tiny town to our left, Atlanta. To vote and get the recipe, go to http://www.theamazingavocado.com/bighit/
• Tea fans, it's time to get reservations for the annual Matthews Victorian Christmas Teas, put on by the Matthews Woman's Club at the Historic Reid House in downtown Matthews. The teas are held Dec. 2-5 and include lots of tea-related nibbles. Tickets are $25. You have to call to get one: 704-849-5063.