It’s a bit of a contest each spring. My husband and I hover over the raised asparagus bed, searching for the first tip of the first asparagus to appear. The lucky person who makes the first sighting gets to troop back into the house triumphantly, announcing “Guess what I just saw!” I think it must be a good luck kind of thing, like finding the almond in the Christmas rice pudding. In any case, it is a sign that Spring is well and truly here.
Of course, there is always an agonizingly long lag time between the emergence of that first exploratory asparagus and the onslaught that follows – sometimes up to a month or more. The first two or three spears generally get hit by a late frost and wither. They must somehow communicate to their brethren down below that it is a tad too early. Eventually, though, the sun’s rays are strong enough to beckon them all and up they come. At the height of asparagus season we need to go out daily to cut them and I swear you can stand by the bed and see them growing!
So then, what to do with them? The first few spears are usually cut down and eaten immediately and without preamble in the garden, raw and crunchy and redolent with the flavors of spring. The next few batches are treated to a light steaming and a spritz of lemon juice, and whatever else is served that night pales in comparison. Eventually, though, there is such an abundance of asparagus that a more comprehensive action is called for. The first dish outlined below, Asparagus with Mushrooms and Rice, was a successful attempt some years ago to camouflage the vegetable in a mix of brown rice and cheese sauce in order to entice a child into ingesting a green vegetable that was not broccoli. At that stage in our lives, any dish that combined at least 3 of the main food groups in one pot was a winner. Said child now eats many vegetables, green and otherwise, but the dish is still a favorite.
The second dish was adapted from Mollie Katzen’s Still Life with Menu cookbook in a time of desperate need. I was faced simultaneously with a hugely abundant asparagus bed and a very queasy first trimester of pregnancy. Asparagus in particular was very hard to face for some reason. Happily, marinating it with ginger worked wonders for my stomach, and eventually both the morning sickness and the frenetic pace of the asparagus abated.
Enjoy!
Asparagus with Mushrooms and Rice
For the vegetables:
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 lb fresh asparagus
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh dill
1 tsp chopped thyme
4 cups sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt
1 tsp tamari
And the Cheddar-Dijon Sauce:
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 ½ cup milk
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp chopped dill
Trim asparagus, and cut into ½ inch pieces. Steam until barely tender.
Preheat oven to 375. In a skillet, heat the oil and sauté the onion until it begins to soften. Add garlic and thyme, and sauté a few more minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until they are tender. Stir this mixture with the dill into the rice, and add the asparagus, lemon juice, salt and tamari. Place in a 9×13 inch baking dish.
Melt butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook for a few minutes. Add the milk, and stir until it is smooth and begins to thicken. Add cheese, stir until melted. Season with mustard and dill.
Pour sauce over the casserole. Bake 15 minutes or until heated through.
Ginger-Marinated Asparagus, adapted from Still Life with Menu by Mollie Katzen
Ingredients
¾ cup cider vinegar or unseasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 lb fresh asparagus, tough ends removed but stalks kept whole
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 Tbsp canola oil
½ tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
In a small sauce pan, combine vinegar and ginger and bring to a boil. Cook uncovered over medium heat until mixture is reduced by half – about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, add the sugar and set aside
Steam the asparagus until just tender and still bright green. Remove from pan and immerse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain, let them dry a bit, then arrange on a platter.
Combine garlic, oils, salt and soy sauce and pur the mixture over the asparagus, tossing gently to coat. Drizzle the vinegar-ginger mixture on top and let the dish for an hour before serving. Delicious either room temperature or chilled.
Tags: asparagus
