Asparagus Melt with Pesto Spread

I have been a happy girl lately. Maybe it's the pleasant weather. Maybe it's the blooming trees everywhere given that it's officially Spring now. Or maybe because I have been eating asparagus almost every single night last week!

Just when I thought I have run out of ideas of using the asparagus, I saw this recipe. In which, asparagus are piled up on sourdough bread, together with pesto spread, tomato, deli ham and mozzarella.

Still in my creativity mode, I swapped the smoke salmon for deli ham, and provolone for mozzarella. They turned out great! I even made one without smoke salmon just to see if it would make the sandwich less enticing. But I found that it was equally nice! While munching on these cheerful looking sandwiches, OCT and I started to plan for our coming picnic, and agreed that these sandwiches will be a nice addition to our picnic spread. I can hardly wait to resume our Spring picnics! But that has to wait until OCT meet the various important deadlines!

I told OCT that I am going to be a vegetarian one day! I think I am quite sure that I could live on veggie alone. For the meantime, in order to eat healthier, we are going to eat vegetarian meal once a week. Guess that's OCT limit for now....

However health conscious this may sound, I am not ready to give up desserts yet, not anytime soon, especially chocolate!

Asparagus Melt with Pesto Spread

A bunch of asparagus spears (about a pound)
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise (I used 2 tbsp)
1 tablespoon commercial pesto
6 slices sourdough bread, toasted
about 4 oz sliced Smoke salmon
2 tomatoes, sliced
3 slices Provolone cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

Snap off tough ends of asparagus. Steam, covered, 2 minutes or until crisp-tender.
Preheat broiler.

Combine mayonnaise and pesto in a bowl, and stir with a whisk. Spread a thin layer of pesto mixture onto 1 side of each bread slice. Layer each slice with asparagus spears, smoke salmon, 2 tomato slices, and 1/2 cheese slice. Place on a baking sheet; broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with pepper.