Put What, Where?

Take a bundle of asparagus, snap off the white ends, put it in a shallow casserole dish and coat it with just a little olive oil. Toss in some fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. The olive oil coats the vegetable and lets it accept the seasoning. Then place the stalks on a grill. Right. Thank you all the smart people in the back. Place them perpendicular to the grill rails. A little smoke is okay, that is the oil doing its thing. After a couple of minutes roll the asparagus over with your tongs and get the other side.


What's nice about this method is there is a gradation of doneness. The outside is a little over done, the inside is a little under done and everything in between is some kind of goodness.

The asparagus is kind of grassy and the grilled flavor rounds that out well. It also lets some sugars develop in the cooking process which balance asparagus' natural bitterness.

I love this preparation because it is tender but still has some freshness and some snap to it. You are tasting the best that asparagus has to offer. I believe that people who dislike a certain thing, may just not have found a way to prepare it. I hated green beans because the only way I had ever had them was drenched in bacon fat and simmered for 3 days in a crock pot. I submit that if you took an old flip flop and prepared it the same way, it would taste just like the green beans.

I did not like asparagus until I had it like this. Now, it is one of my favorite vegetables.

$1.00 per serving. Delicious. Good vitamins. Good iron. Quick. Surprising. Flavorful. A good pair for grilled or roasted meats. A good dish for your vegetarian friends.