TND – All the Asparagus | Monday Night Dinner

TND – All the Asparagus

June 11, 2014

“In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”

This may well be true, but come Spring my fancy turns to thoughts of asparagus and how many times a week I can eat it during it’s all too brief season. Everyone’s got their thing. My roommate more or less patiently puts up with my 4 week obsession with asparagus because I keep promising her that it precedes the arrival of local strawberries, in which I shall also luxuriate.

I took my winter coat to the dry cleaners this past weekend. The girl behind the counter worriedly told me that they wouldn’t be able to get the coat back to me in 24 hours, that it would take a couple of days. I reassured her that I wasn’t planning on needing my heavy wool coat again for a couple of months and I could probably wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to get it back.

This is to say, Massachusetts has finally achieved Spring. If the presence of asparagus and rhubarb weren’t evidence enough of Spring, I can bring in any number of witnesses – myself included – who are suffering from the metric tonnage of pollen that has been dumped on us. This, incidentally, is not really a complaint. I will accept the pollen as a reasonable price to pay for being able to feel the sun on my skin – the first time I walked out of my house in a tank top I felt like I was indecent it had been so long since I’d worn that little clothing. That said, as I told a friend recently, if the dire winter and the excessive amounts of pollen this spring are harbingers of the ecological apocalypse I’d like to opt out now.

Anyway, this is the asparagus season roundup for 2014. I have pan fried it, grilled it, roasted it, pureed it, steamed it, and tomorrow I plan to pickle it. Given more time I’d experiment with turning it into pesto, or making a thai inspired spicy soup, but asparagus’s time with us is all too fleeting and unless the weather shifts dramatically from predictions (which given that this is the Northeast is not outside the realm of possibility) we’re at the end of the season. I shall just have to bear these thoughts in mind for next year, and refocus my attentions on the upcoming strawberry and sugar snap pea crops.

Dinner May 20th – First of the Local Asparagus

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken with Chimichurri Sauce
Asparagus Tart
Salad with Rhubarb Vinaigrette
Orange Wedges

Recipes can be found here.

Dinner May 27th – Brief Pause in Our Asparagus Consumption for a Birthday

Zucchini-Basil Soup
Grilled Cheese Two Ways
– The Italian Stallion (aka Tomato-Basil-Cheddar Grilled Cheese)
– The Hot Brit (aka Chutney-Cheddar Grilled Cheese)
Salad with Rhubarb Vinaigrette

(Pea)nut Chocolate Bourbon Pie

Recipes can be found here.

Dinner June 3rd – Get Your Asparagus While It Lasts