Asparagus me anything! (How to eat asparagus)

Asparagus for sale in Potsdam. Photo: Nora Flaherty

I’m sorry, I don’t even know if that counts as a pun. But what can I say? It’s Friday and I’m a little bit loopy. Anyway, this week we asked for your asparagus recipes. Why? Well, mostly because it’s not around all that long. And because it’s delicious.

Anyway, something interesting I found out when I started asking people about asparagus is that people are often just glad it’s around and are pretty excited about eating it in a very natural way, steamed with just a little butter and cheese sprinkled on it, for example (that’s how I like it.)

So this week it’s not so much recipes as suggestions for serving. I’m forwarding along a couple for you, from our cookbook “Stories, Food, Life.” Enjoy!

From George Arnold, who I’m told by Dale Hobson “really transformed food culture for North Country students” and who ran Dining Services at SUNY Potsdam, a simple suggestion:

Summer is salad season. Almost any combination of vegetables, legumes, grains, pasta and cooked meat or seafood bound together with a dressing will be satisfying. My favorites include…Asparagus-Barley Salad (chunks of blanched asparagus, cooked and cooled barley, toasted walnuts, chopped parsley, lemon peel, lemon juice and mayonnaise).

Archive Photo of the Day: Steve and Vici Diehl, Antwerp NY

From Julie Robards of Upper Jay, this grilling suggestion:

A bundle of asparagus or green beans wrapped in a slice of bacon, drizzled with olive oil and roasted. Roasted stuffed red or yellow pepper filled with seasonal summer squash and grape tomatoes, onions, fresh thyme, feta cheese and drizzled with olive oil. We love to cook with fresh seasonal vegetables—what could be better in the summer with a crisp fruity white wine? I do a lot of vegetables on the grill—just drizzle with good olive oil.

And finally, from the always-jocular Dale:

Prepare shrimp-stuffed crepes and a creamy roasted red pepper and smoked paprika sauce. Steam tender ends of asparagus only until they retain a little crunch. Plate up with the sauce-covered crepes. Enjoy the festive contrast of deep red sauce and bright green spears, savor the pungent smoky aroma of the sauce contracted with the grassy note of the asparagus. Eat the crepe; compost the asparagus.

So how do you enjoy Asparagus? Do you have other suggestions for us, or perhaps a more formalized recipe? Go for it in the comments, and happy eating!

This coming week, I’ll be asking about your favorite wild foods: What do you love to gather, and how do you prepare it?

Tags: asparagus, food, recipe