Getting Fresh : The Simplest Asparagus

Grilled Lemon Butter Asparagus, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

As I aptly covered in my last post, Spring is officially here. Many aspects of this fact render me giddy. Picnics. Outdoor markets. Fresh produce. Sunshine. Longer days. Warm weather (not too warm mind you). The sweet smell that hangs in the air. Rhubarb. Asparagus. Sorry, those last couple were simply fresh Spring produce. So, basically, repeats. But, two things I cannot wait to get my hands on and cook up come Spring.

Sunday night I baked Julia Childs cheese souffle for dinner. Naturally, I needed a good green veggie side. While perusing the produce section at the grocery store, there it was, the first beautiful bundle of long, stalky asparagus, it's pointy little heads staring up at me. Finally! For me, asparagus is one of those things that needs to remain simple, enhanced only by a few ingredients, and a method of cooking. So, I give you a short post, and a simple recipe. Grilled asparagus. Salty, tangy, and a bit buttery. It's easy, quick, and delicious. Sorry Julia, but, the asparagus might have been even better than those perfectly golden souffles. Ok, maybe not. Maybe I'm just overly excited about asparagus. It's really that good though. Really.

Butter Lemon Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 pound asparagus

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Butter

2 cloves garlic minced

Half a lemon

Generous pinch of sea salt

Sprinkle of Pepper

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil and butter in a grill pan on medium high heat on the stove top.

2. Arrange asparagus evenly in grill pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip.

3. Once you've made the flip, sprinkle with garlic (I throw it in the pan at this point so it doesn't burn, I find if I put in when I put the asparagus in the garlic burns). Grill an additional 3 minutes. When finished the asparagus should have caramelized grill marks on either side.

4. Squeeze with lemon juice, generously season with sea salt and pepper. Remove from pan. Serve hot.

Sometimes it doesn't get much better than something so simple.

Grilled Lemon Butter Asparagus, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.