It’s May, and all those veggie-loving foodies out there know what that means: Ontario asparagus is here. The plant stalk, which has a six-week growing season from late April to mid June, has been popping up at farmer’s markets and on grocery store shelves with fervour lately.Once widely maligned by children and dads everywhere for its mushy, stringy quality and uncanny ability to not only make your pee smell, but turn it green as well, that’s changed now that most people understand you don’t have to cook the living tar out of it. Steamed or grilled properly, asparagus has a nice, crisp, clean taste that fills your tummy with a deep-down refreshing feeling.
And it also happens to be ridiculously good for you: asparagus is loaded with vitamins C, K and A, as well as containing high amounts of B vitamin folate and the supposed cancer-fighting anti-oxidant agent glutathione. Asparagus from Peru and Mexico, of course, is available pretty much year round, but nothing is better (in flavour or for the environment) than our own, fresh-from-the-farm, locally grown buds. Here are four simple things you can do to ensure that you get the most out of Ontario’s asparagus bounty this season.
1. You’ve got to steam it! Rinse you asparagus thoroughly to remove any dirt or other contaminates (like others shoppers' fingersprints) and place in a pot on the stove. (Tip: keep the elastic band on to help the whole thing hold together — but keep the elastic out of the water.) Add a cup of water, bring to a boil and let cook until the stalks turn a deep, vibrant green and are slightly tender to the touch (about 3 to five minutes_. Remove from heat and immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Trim off the woody ends (which will also probably be a bit mushy) by cutting a half inch off the bottom of each stalk. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Gently heat in a pan on the stove or in the oven to serve hot, or plonk it on the table at room temperature as a nice crudité. (Or save it in the fridge for another day — cooked asparagus be kept for two to three days refrigerated.)
2. Toss a couple stalks on the Barbie. Steamed is great, but with barbecue season in the offing, you should know that grilling asparagus imparts the veggie with a nice smokiness, and an ephemeral crunchiness from grill marks. Take your asparagus and snap off the woody ends. (To do this, hold the stalk lightly at both ends and exert gentle pressure. The asparagus will bow, and then break. Keep the top half for eating, and toss the bottoms in a bag for making stock some other time. Note: if you have nice thin asparagus, skip this step.) Toss with some crushed garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and grill over medium heat until tender. Alternatively, you can also wrap the asparagus in tin foil with some butter, garlic, salt and pepper and place the sealed packet on the warming rack on your barbecue. This will gently cook it while you get the steaks and such ready to eat.
3. Wrap it in bacon. Everything tastes better with bacon, but asparagus especially so. (If you have thick stalks, it would be advisable to follow the steaming directions first, and then proceed with these next steps.) Toss asparagus with some salt, pepper and olive oil. Take three or four stalks, and wrap with a slice of prosciutto. Place on barbecue and grill, or toss under the broiler on medium-high heat, and cook until bacon is crisp. Serve hot with a wedge of lemon.
4. Make it stinky…with gorgonzola. This can be done a number of ways. Take your steamed asparagus and toss it in a bowl with some lemon juice, cherry tomatoes and crumbled blue cheese for a nice salad. Or pop a bit into your bacon bundles from suggestion number 3 above to really make a decadent springtime treat. My favourite is to take a cup of 35 per cent cream and reduce it on the stove with a clove of garlic. Once the cream is all nice and hot and reduced by 20 per cent or so, add a bunch of gorgonzola and whisk until a nice, rich sauce is formed. Toss some fresh herbs into it and pour over your asparagus for a delicious experience.
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