Asparagus: From farm to table

This is a good time of year to love asparagus…so this is a good time of year for my family. I don’t know whether it’s the flavor and freshness and flavor that my kids are most drawn to, or its resemblance to swords, but it’s one vegetable that everybody eats happily and willingly.

Maybe it’s because my daughters now have an intimate understanding of where asparagus comes from.

We went to visit Ramon Ayala’s asparagus farm near Sunnyside, Washington a few weeks ago. Now we understand why we have to wash asparagus so thoroughly, even though this farm doesn’t  use pesticides to grow their asparagus.

My girls love to help prepare asparagus because the first step is breaking the asparagus. Asparagus naturally breaks where the woody and tender parts come together. It’s one time that breaking things is encouraged at our house!

Sometimes we just steam the spears for a few minutes, then pick up and eat the asparagus with our hands.

Asparagus is also easy to dress up and looks beautiful with little assistance. For my cooking group last weekend, I used a recipe from Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest.

Rave reviews on style and flavor!

The recipe’s below.

Asparagus with Spring Onion–Lemon Vinaigrette, Sorrel, and Goat Cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

2 t. grated lemon zest

3 T. fresh lemon juice

1 3/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

2-3 spring onions, (white parts only), thinly sliced

1 lb. pencil-thin asparagus, trimmed

4 oz. fresh white goat cheese, crumbled

4-5 sorrel leaves, thinly sliced

Vinaigrette: Whisk together the oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, 3/4 t. salt and pepper. Stir in the onion  and let stand for 30 minutes.

To blanch the asparagus: Fill a large skillet with about 2 inches of water and add the remaining 1 t. salt. Carefully place the asparagus into boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Immediately cool. (The recipe suggests plunging into ice water to cool. I didn’t do this–just ran it under cold running water.)

To serve, arrange asparagus on plate and spoon vinaigrette over top. Top with the cheese and sorrel.

by Jessica Troy