My recent trip to the farmers’ market confirmed my suspicions: Spring has well and truly arrived, at least in my neck of the woods (Southern California). With pleasure, I spied a collection of seasonal harbingers: Asparagus! Green garlic! Rhubarb! It didn’t take me long to envision a menu that would show them off.

Asparagus, for me, is always a thrill. The sight of the first few bunches brings a broad smile. Those early spears are sweet enough to eat raw, so that is exactly how I chose to prepare them. A shaved asparagus salad was in order.

I sliced the spears lengthwise into thin ribbons, something, I recently discovered, that is quite easy to do with a long, sharp knife. (Formerly, I always used a mandoline, which makes nice ribbons but also courts danger. A knife is safer.)

The simplest version of this salad requires only extra-virgin olive oil and salt, with perhaps a squeeze of lemon. However, I decided to build a proper lemony vinaigrette with a few chopped anchovy fillets. Omit the anchovy in the dressing, if you wish, but it’s there to bolster flavor — not to taste fishy.

For color and texture, as well as a bit of sharpness, I added thinly sliced radishes. Any type of radish will work but, for a really vibrant salad, look for the many brilliant varieties of daikon radish available at many farmers’ markets now. These beauties come in a range of colors — crimson, scarlet, purple, even bright green. Or look for “watermelon” radishes, round and the size of golf balls. When sliced, these radishes reveal a multicolored cross-section. An easy salad to put together, this is a festive dish. You could even finish it with shavings of Parmesan or ricotta salata.

Shaved Asparagus and Radish Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons fruity, flavorful extra-virgin olive oil

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 4 anchovy fillets, rinsed, blotted and roughly chopped

• Salt and pepper

• 1 pound asparagus, medium-thick spears if possible

• 1 cup thinly sliced daikon radish or other radish, preferably a mixture of colors (or more to taste)

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and anchovy. Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

Snap off and discard the tough end of each asparagus spear. Using a sharp knife, slice asparagus lengthwise into ribbons. For skinny asparagus, just halve lengthwise.

Place sliced asparagus in a large salad bowl. Toss with salt and pepper, then add the dressing and toss to coat.

For each serving, place a handful of dressed asparagus on a plate. Surround with slices of colorful radish, and tuck a few more slices among the asparagus ribbons. Sprinkle radishes lightly with salt.

Total time: 15 minutes, serves 6.

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