I've never eaten asparagus before, or, if I have, I have no memory of doing so. I now have John, our personal chef, to thank for my first (and second and third) helping. This was a yummy introduction to them, and the girls even gobbled them. It may have helped that John took Annie's cue and called them green beans...
My only change if we made this again would be to add more garlic and lemon zest. Their flavor was delicious and present, but I wanted even more of it!
1 pound asparagus
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Trim asparagus. In a small bowl, combine oil, garlic, zest and paprika and stir with a fork. Lay asparagus side by side and pierce on 2 wooden skewers to form a raft. Place rafts on the grill and brush with oil mixture. Cook to desired tenderness and season with salt and pepper.
really? i'd have thought your gardening-queen ma would've grown this stuff by the acre! we have some sprouting in the nursery now, which people buy for ornamental purposes! phil and i sneak around the greenhouses nibbling the tops off like greedy rabbits.
ReplyDeletewe've also been collecting wild fiddleheads, which taste quite similar - do you know about those?
My mom does grow them, and I may very well have eaten some, but they don't stand out in my memory. Maybe I used to hate them (along with brussel sprouts, which I now like), was forced to nibble a bite at suppertime, and have since buried their memory in favor of more child-friendly harvest of peas, beans, corn, and the like.
ReplyDeleteFiddleheads, on the other hand, I fondly remember both searching for with my fiddlehead lovin' father and eating many springs, so I suppose I have the taste of asparagus in me, after all. (There's something about the hunt that makes the food taste better, I guess...)
You and Phil are probably feasting on leeks, too, I bet. Mom and Dad just found a huge patch of them while they were out mending the fence. Yum. Jealous!