Recipe Lab: Notes on Deborah Madison's Onion Tart and Asparagus Salad This month's book for Recipe Lab is "Vegetable Literacy" by Deborah Madison, and our live chat is coming up this Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. This will be your chance to ask her everything and anything about vegetable cookery, or about the recipes I hope you're planning to try out before then. You can find the recipes here. I made both the onion tart and the asparagus salad this week; I loved the orange notes in the asparagus dressing, and I was impressed by how easy it was to put the onion tart together. The recipes raised a couple of questions, too - if I have half an onion, two leeks and a shallot hanging around in the crisper, can I use those instead of all onions for the tart? And is it really necessary to blanch the orange peel? One commenter, flipturn, questioned whether the recipe would still be good without the optional bacon. Some vegetarian readers were disappointed to see meat there at all. I didn't think the bacon added much; the filling is great without it. We want to know what your results were, and what questions you have for Ms. Madison. So keep cooking, and commenting. Are you finding local asparagus yet in the market where you live? Did anyone out there try the spelt option for the crust? Here are my notes on the recipes: I used a springform pan instead of a tart pan, and made the sides about an inch high, as the recipe didn't say. A little higher would have been better. The tart dough called for white whole-wheat flour, but if you don't have it, a combination of whole-wheat and all-purpose flour would work just as well and provide the same faint wheatiness to the crust. Domestic asparagus are just coming into season; when you're shopping, turn over each bundle before buying to make sure the cut bottoms aren't cracked and dry. They should look white or green, not tinged with brown.