Fresh Asparagus

[Constance]

I have an asparagus bed, so we are blessed with all the fresh asparagus we can eat for about a month each spring. To pick, I just snap it off where it is tender, then wash and store it in a jar of water, like an asparagus bouquet, in the fridge or any place cool, until I'm ready to cook it.
Here's my favorite method:
For one pound of asparagus...
Sweat a little minced garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil in non-stick skillet for a few minutes, then add asparagus. Season with S&P and let cook a few minutes more, tossing the asparagus to coat with oil.
Squeeze half a lemon over the top, cover, reduce heat, and let steam until tender.

The very fresh tips are also delicious raw! Good in a salad, as a crudite, or munched right out of the garden.

 

[cats]

Love this recipe and do it all the time, although I add some butter with the olive oil as well. Fresh asparagus, however, is just so wonderful and dear for such a short season, I only steam it, and serve with just some butter and salt to taste. I can't bear to mess with it's sweet fresh taste. So, with your recipe, I use frozen asparagus.

 

[jkath]

Oh to grow asparagus! YUM!
I like to make thin little coins out of the stalk and sprinkle them on top of a salad,
and then use the tender tops in larger chunks.

 

[pdswife]

Paul planted some asparagus this year. Can't wait to try if fresh out of the garden.
I hope I can wait a year or two. I hear that's how long it takes.

Your recipe sounds good. I'll have to try it.
Thanks!

 

[cats]

Hey PDSWIFE, My husband too planted asparagus for us last Fall and the stalks have come up nicely. Like you, we are having to suffer and wait until next year to do any harvesting. Last Fall, he also put in two different types of strawberry plants and covered them with straw for over the Winter. When he uncovered the rows of plants this Spring, after all chance of a late frost, the little plants looked fantastically healthy. These too we have to wait another year before harvesting, but we have removed any blossoms that have appeared, as that's what the gardening instructions say to do. So, sad to say, although our asparagus and strawberries are doing wonderfully, we can't eat and enjoy any of them yet.

 

[HanArt]

Constance, you're so lucky! I'd like to create a little asparagus patch when I redo the garden next year. We like it steamed, roasted, wrapped with prosciutto, or on a pizza with prosciutto.

 

[luvs]

i like it with lemon and pepper. just something simple. my Parents add horseradish and lemon juice to thiers. it's an odd combination but good.
BTW, what's white asparagus like?

 

[HanArt]

BTW, what's white asparagus like?

Stay away from white asparagus ... or at least don't look at it when you eat it, lest it offend you.

 

[luvs]

it isn't very pretty, huh? kinda like cauliflower.

 

[jkath]

Hey, you've got me thinking...a monochromatic veggie plate...potatoes, white asparagus, cauliflower....with hollandaise on top!

 

[luvs]

oh, man i love hollandaise. steamed green beans dipped in it is one of my favorite snacks. talk about an artery-clogger, though, lol! hmmm, monochromatic plates... if you threw in something green, even though that's a contradiction, lol, i think that might make a HANDSOME plate!

 

[HanArt]

it isn't very pretty, huh? kinda like cauliflower.

Well, apparently some members here are offended by the way it looks. I was asked to refrain from posting links to photos of it.