Ground Hog Day Salad

 For a year this tiny clipping was stuck to the wall in my kitchen.  The salad sounded simple and good.  Last Saturday, craving spring in a snowbound land, I decided to make it.  (The salad was served at Cindy's Backstreet Cafe in St. Helena and reviewed by Michael Bauer.)

Clipping from SF Chron

I ran into trouble immediately.  My arugula was not "pristine," and my artichoke hearts were canned.  I was able to "perfectly cook" the hardboiled eggs and our local bacon is excellent.  In order to keep the dressing light, I used Grape Seed Oil and white wine vinegar with the cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.
I was hopeful, because the salad fit the weekend requirement of being brunch-like by including eggs and bacon.

Eggs and Artichokes

As I made the salad, I felt like a cat in a straight-jacket.  I kept wanting to alter or add to the ingredients.
The finished salad, while beautiful to behold, did not convey the promise of spring.

While I was eating it, I keep thinking that it had not quite come together.  The various parts needed to be crumbled, cut-up, and tossed.  Also, the dressing, while tasty on its own, had not helped the artichoke hearts taste anything but canned.  They were slippery and chewy but not buttery and flavorful.
Today I started over.  Instead of just Arugula, I added spring greens and red onion.  I chopped everything and mixed it well with an olive oil dressing.  Also, I had no bacon since my hubby ate it yesterday--but I didn't need it because hazel nuts add an earthy bacon quality.  I added sunflower seeds and avocado.  Voila!!  Spring in every bite.

Ingredients:
1/2 Arugula chopped
1/2 Spring Mix chopped
Red Onion thin slice halved
4 cherry tomatoes quartered
Hard boiled egg, crumbled
Artichoke hearts dressed and chopped
Avocado
Toasted Hazelnuts, chopped
Sunflower seeds
Olive Oil/Vinegar dressing