I love it roasted, grilled, blanched, raw or gasp! even out of a jar or can, which is how my dear grandmother used to serve it.
So, when I saw these beauts at the Farmer's Market on Wednesday, I had to purchase.
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| Please disregard the mess in the background... |
Last Saturday, Casey and I bought some asparagus but those were of a much more "slender" variety; the ones available on Wednesday were simply monstrous. As I picked out my asparagus, (while Maggie, in a moment of amazing behavior, simply sat and waited patiently) a woman approached me and asked if these particular asparagus would be tough because they are so big. I said I wasn't actually sure...and then I remembered a conversation I had with my family about Barbara Kingsolver's novel, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and her discussion of asparagus. She says that size, in fact, doesn't affect the tenderness of the asparagus, but one must only be mindful of size, as it will have an impact on cooking time. Another common misconception is that the smaller spears come from early harvests. The truth is some plants (often depending on health and available nutrients) simply produce larger spears. Interesting stuff, right?
Anyways, I purchased about a pound of this lovely veggie along with some spring garlic and a bag of arugula and headed on my way. This afternoon, as the sun started to peak through the clouds and the temperature creeped up, I was craving a light and refreshing salad and decided to create a simple dish out of the ingredients I had purchased.
I first washed and spun out the arugula and placed it in a bowl. I then washed the asparagus and trimmed the tough ends, cutting just about a 1/4-1/2 an inch off the bottom. I took three of the stalks and using a veggie peeler, created ribbons of asparagus, which I placed on top of the bed of arugula. To this, I added shredded Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
What are your favorite spring time veggies?
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