onsdag den 18. marts 2009

too-green salad


yesterday when the weekly circulars were mailed, i saw that ralphs was advertising asparagus at 97 cents per pound. hot diggity damn! i've never prepared them before and at a price like this, i couldn't afford to not try. so i biked my chubby ass over there this morning to find that the deal was indeed true. however, the stalks looked a bit on the skinny side (unlike me). no matter! during the journey home i was dreaming up all sorts of things i could make with my pound of greens. proscuitto-wrapped, a tart, with a hollandaise sauce... however, by the time i got home the 25°C weather caught up with me and all i wanted was chilled sustanance.

i cut off about an inch of the stems and blanched them for 3-4 minutes. after a quick rinse in cold water, they were set on top of some organic spring greens (a great mix of arugula, frisee, radicchio, baby lettuce, etc. from bebe farms) and i threw in some cucumbers for crunch. the dressing was just a squeeze of lemon, basalmic, and some ground pepper. refreshing, delicious, and stupidly healthy. i suppose i could have added tomatoes or oranges for colour, but i was so hungry!

nothing to preparing asparagus. now if only i could grow them in the kitchen...

2 kommentarer:

Melissa Barrett sagde ...

Skinny asparagus is the best, and you made it my favorite way - lighty steamed/roasted with lemon. Well, actually another favorite is to put it in a zip-lock bag with italian dressing overnight and eat it the next day. Marinated, cold, and still slightly crispy.

to2sassy sagde ...

I agree with Melissa. The skinny asparagus is the cream of the crop. The thicker it gets the tougher it gets. These are the first spring shoots and OH so tasty! Another great way to prepare Asparagus is to place on a broiler pan drizzle with olive oil crushed garlic, a TBS of thyme,a generous amount of pepper and the juice of a lemon. Give it a toss with your fingers and place under broiler for 6-10 mins. Depending on how thick your asparagus is and how soft you like your asparagus.