Spring Time Favorite

One of my favorite things about spring is fresh asparagus. I’ve liked asparagus since I was a kid and when I waitressed in college I would order steamed sides of it for a snack before my shift.  But it wasn’t until a couple years ago that I read in a gardening magazine that it’s a perennial. In fact, asparagus doesn’t reach its full maturity for at least two growing seasons and can continue to produce for 15 to 20 years. All along I had assumed that, like most vegetables, it was grown by seed each season. I have ambitions to plant my own asparagus garden someday, but in the meantime I’m content to let farmers fulfill my springtime cravings.

So how do we eat our lean green friend? Our hands down favorite is to roast it and top it with a little parmesan cheese during its last few minutes in the oven. My husband and I have been known to polish off an entire baking sheet without even realizing it. The method I follow can be found here. 

A close second is to steam it in the electric steamer for a couple minutes and top it with a little butter and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Asparagus in my kitchen also inevitably finds its way into frittatas, grain salads, and stir fries. Last year a friend gave me some surplus asparagus they’d gleaned and I even pickled and canned it. It truly is a versatile and endlessly tasty ambassador of spring.