Fresh green asparagus is back in season and appearing in Community Supported Agriculture boxes from farms such Full Belly Farm in Guinda, California.
Asparagus is one of the simplest vegetables to enjoy, especially now at the peak of its freshness. Julia Child instructs us to peel thicker stalks before steaming - something we confess we've never done. We like to sauté the thinner stalks in hot oil just until barely tender, then splash on some soy sauce and eat with our fingers. The classic preparation of course is to serve the stalks steamed with hollandaise sauce.
We like the sound of this Asparagus Risotto as well as this Seared Asparagus with Lemon Zest and Chives. Green Asparagus and Parmesan Rolled in Parma Ham would make an elegant appetizer.
There's also Deep Fried Asparagus over at Seriously Good, which looks novel and strangely appealing.
How do you like your asparagus? Steamed, sautéed, blanched? Fried or grilled?
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I splurged and bought a bunch last night, which we enjoyed in the 75 degree weather on our building's porch--I'm in Minneapolis where it was record-breakingly beautiful yesterday--both the weather and the asparagus gave me hope for spring and summer coming soon.
Grilled is my favorite preparation, but we don't have a grill. I just blanched the asparagus to go with dinner, though especially the leftovers could use the addition of something to make them more exciting, like sauce or olive oil.
May try and find a quiche-esque recipe in which to use the rest of the stalks. Any recommendations for recipes? Otherwise it'll have to be risotto, which fits the weather for the rest of this week: much colder and rainy.
If I'm not being lazy and just steaming or blanching them, I think you just can't beat tossing with olive oil and roasting them. (Ok, maybe a grill, but I'm a poor apartment dweller.)
Perhaps not the classiest preparation, but stir-fried asparagus with chunks of faux crab meat was one of my favourites when I was growing up. My mom would make it with lots of garlic and top it with oyster sauce.
I have to say, peeling the thicker asparagus is absolutely the way to go! It makes the asparagus so much softer and delicate and allows it to be saturated with whatever you're cooking it in.
Sooooooo soft! You'll never go back to stringy, crunchy skins!
i like mine cooked on a cookie sheet with balsamic and parmesan and fresh pepper. mmmmm
I like them a million ways, but there's a asparagus rice soup in Zuni that's excellent, and adaptable to vegetarian. (I've done it with mushroom broth as base.)
She uses pork.
I suggest cutting the pork in half, esp if you're using bacon.
It's pretty fast and easy.
I like to grill them and dress them up with some hazelnut oil and parmesan. Yum!
I pretty much will take them any way, but my favorite is tossed with olive oil, garlic, ginger and salt and either roasted or grilled. I also just made a really delicious asparagus and crab soup from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen cookbook on Sunday. I love asparagus season!
I'll also eat my asparagus just about any way. I don't have a grill either, so I coat mine with a bit of olive oil and roast them.
Also, a bit of lemon zest, some butter and some rosemary make a nice drizzle.
As for peeling, that always seemed tedious. But, if you pick up one stalk by each end and start to bend it, it will snap in two about 2/3 of the way down from the tip, leaving you with the tender part and throwing off the tough part in need of peeling.
They break nearly uniformly from stalk to stalk, so there isn't much waste.
Ooh, I also made a pizza the other night with asparagus on it. And, if you're really ambitious, you can pull the pizza out after the veggies have started to get soft, crack an egg over it and pop it back in the oven.
Yum!