Asparagus is in right now, so many people turn their noses up to this wonderful veggie. It grows wild around here and people stop along side the highways to pick it. I love it and it is really good for you, actually I was just reading in a magazine how aspargus is proven to be a belly flattening food so it is my new fave for sure!! I think people hear "asparagus" and think some nasty green slime that comes from a can,I can't stomach that myself. Fresh or none for me, thanks.
So I am going to tell you a couple of my absolute favorite ways to eat asparagus. I cannot pick one so these are in no particular order what-so-ever.
First:
Shrimp scampi that alone is an absolutely amazing thing to eat you can make the super fattening kind or you can use a bit of low sodium chicken stock instead of soooooo much butter, either way is freaking fan-tabulous. So whatever your favorite shrimp scampi recipe is, whip it up but first fix some risotto. (you don't have to use risotto, I have used angel hair pasta, jasmine rice and orzo) Sautee your asparagus, don't over cook it please, it will cry and so will I. Just until it is a little soft but still crunchy and add it to your scampi. Now you gotta put this baby together: plate (on something oven safe) the risotto top with shrimp scampi and asparagus grate some FRESH mozzarella and FRESH parmesan (please use fresh, pretty please that stuff in the green can is not what we want here!!) now stick it under the broiler, just a little while long enough for the cheese to melt. This is an easy amazing dish!!!! the picture below is actually with orzo.
Second: Asparagus Omelet. OH.YEAH.
So one morning I decided I wanted asparagus now I am all about eating supper for breakfast and vice versa but this particular morning I wanted breakfast AND asparagus so I thought why not an omelet, right?
This one is rather simple, you could jazz it up with some tomatoes too if you like or even add some bacon or prosciutto!
All I did was prepare my omelet as usual in another pan I sauteed some asparagus with garlic. I softened some cream cheese and mixed it with some parmesan then dolloped it right in the center of my omelet topped it with the asparagus rolled it up and topped with mozzarella, that is right, I love some mozz!
Third: Grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon. Man do I ever love this and it is simple, olive oil on the asparagus wrap a strip of bacon around about 4 stalks and throw it on a hot charcoal grill, it doesn't take long to get done and be careful not to have the grill too hot or it will burn up quick! You can use your imagination for this too! I would think you could use just about any thing you wanted and add even more, a kabob with this and some cherry tomatoes and onions would be good as well. I don't have a picture of this but today for lunch guess what I had, yep, asparagus! I sauteed it then wrapped the bad boy up in some prosciutto stuffed it with cream cheese popped it in the toaster oven long enough to melt the cream cheese a tad and TA-DA! make sure you don't salt the asparagus when using prosciutto, it is VERY salty! And, as luck would have it, I did indeed photograph that!
So there you have it, just a couple amazing dishes with asparagus, I know it looks funny but really once you try it, you will fall in love with it!
One other thing while we are on this whole veggie kick, radishes these amazing little red and white wonders that can put your mouth on fire with their spicy hottness. They too are a veggie that gets left at the wayside, you either love them, or you hate them. I can sit with a salt shaker in the garden and make an entire meal out of the radish row. I love them. Some people don't, but did you know you can sautee them??? That is right sauteed radishes you can even cook the green tops too.When you sautee the radishes they take on a potato like texture, sometimes (depending on the radish) they can be a bit sweet and sometimes a tad hmm, bitter (for lack of a better word) kinda like collards or kale and the tops are the same. You can roast them too, roasting ANY root veggie makes them OH so sweet (but that is a whole different blog post) I promise you though the bite of the radish gets lost in the cooking process so if that is what has held you back give these ways a try and I bet you can find a new veggie to love! Just so happens, I have a picture of the sauteed Radishes. I wanted to add some grated parm to the top but I figured I shouldn't, I never realized how much I love cheese LOL!
ALSO I wanted to add one more thing, balsamic vinegar is also a nice combo with roasted radishes!!
So, give new veggies a try and if you don't like them the first time, try them another way!
asparagus is delicious! boooo asparagus haters.
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