This is the first spring we’ve been able to harvest from our Asparagus bed. It’s been 3 years since I planted the seeds Hubert gave me. I don’t remember the name-but it’s a purple variety-and it’s very tasty.
Miss Cindy bought me a few Asparagus plants last year-they were already 2 or 3 years old-so we’ve been harvesting a little from them too.
I was probably in my 30s before I ever tasted Asparagus. The best way I’ve found to cook it-is to roast the spears in the oven.
Lay the asparagus out on a pan and drizzle on olive oil-sprinkle with salt and pepper-and cook in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. It is so good!
The only problem I’ve found with our Asparagus-is that there just isn’t enough-hopefully each year will bring more production from our bed.
What’s your favorite way to eat Asparagus?
Tipper
32 Comments
Jennifer in OR
April 30, 2011 at 11:51 amHad to come here to find out “the best way” too cook asparagus this morning! Cooking some for breakfast, actually, to go w/ the eggs & fried potatoes… love Jen
Becky
April 30, 2011 at 9:44 amYou know, my Mom loved asparagus. I tasted it when I was young and it was ok. and I haven’t eaten it since. But I’d love to try your way.
Janet
April 29, 2011 at 3:04 pmI wish I had an asparagus bed! I’m impatient so I just buy the ready to eat kind.
Jen
April 28, 2011 at 9:51 pmOur asparagus bed is well over 20 yrs old & we eat it three times a day sometimes during harvest. I love it.
My favorite way to eat it is to chop into bite size pieces & fry in a little butter. Let it cook a few minutes than add an egg. Sometimes I scramble egg with it but most of the time I just let it cook beside the asparagus sunny side up. I love having it with a big weekend breakfast.
I also add raw or leftover (very rare!)roasted asparagus to salads.
teresa atkinson
April 28, 2011 at 11:55 amlove it roasted. problem at our house. it usually never makes it to the table. we all eat it right off the roasting pan.
Miss Cindy
April 28, 2011 at 8:52 amMy favorite way to cook asparagus is…barely! Steam it for just a few minutes. I also like it raw, plain or in salads.
I planted crowns last year or more accurately, the Deer Hunter planted them. Don’t have any to eat yet but I’m hoping they will do well where they are.
I love asparagus and always buy it in the spring. A friend taught me to break it instead of cutting it. It will naturally break above the woody part of the stem. That’s for grocery store asparagus. I’m sure with garden asparagus I’d harvest it before the stems had time to get woody. I’m not in to delayed gratification…..I’ll eat it as soon as I can.
Remember when the girls ate all your bell peppers in the garden, before you got them into the house? That’s me and the asparagus!
Glenda Beall
April 28, 2011 at 3:05 amI like this post and all the comments. I am copying many of these for my kitchen. I love asparagus, but seldom buy it. Years ago my friend made a delicious asparagus casserole (when casseroles were popular) and I really loved that dish.
Thanks for one of the best blogs I follow, Tipper.
Julie at Elisharose
April 27, 2011 at 11:21 pmThat is just how I eat it. Yummy. I planted my first asparagus crowns this year. I’ve had such fun watching them. I’m told I can harvest next year. I do hope so. I love asparagus.
David Templeton
April 27, 2011 at 11:08 pmOnce asparagus has grown wild it takes on a milder or at least a kind of different flavor… a little “sweeter” maybe, but not sweet. Anyway … I find wild asparagus to be a real delicacy and I gather it every Spring (if others asparagus hunters don’t beat me to the best patches).
I’m sure most know that, before plastic flowers and styrofoam, asparagus “fern” was a common, popular grave decorator. It makes a beautiful wreath or spray.
Birds would pick off the seeds and, if they were frequent feeders at the graveyard, they would drop the naturally fertilized seed along their fencerow perches. Maybe you’ve seen wild asparagus in fencerows by graveyards.
SandyCarlson (USA)
April 27, 2011 at 10:43 pmYou are worlds ahead of me. These look delicious.
Suzi Phillips
April 27, 2011 at 9:01 pmSteamed with lots of melted (real) butter-yummy!
janet pressley
April 27, 2011 at 6:49 pmNow I want asparagus and don’t have any! Nana
Bradley
April 27, 2011 at 3:59 pmTipper,
I have always liked asparagus. I would probably like it anyway one could cook it. Steamed with Hollandaise sauce is best to me. Actually I enjoy just about any vegetable.
Bradley
Vicki Lane
April 27, 2011 at 2:06 pmI love it roasted or steamed or raw — with or without sauces — and there’s never enough.
Cream of asparagus soup — that’s another nice thing to do with it.
Ken
April 27, 2011 at 12:29 pmTipper,
There are lots of vegetables that
I’ve never tried growing, although
I like asparagus. If I ever see it
on sale at the grocery, I get a
couple of cans. Steamed asparagus
goes awfully well with scrambled
eggs and a big ole ripe tomato.
…Ken
Luann Sewell Waters
April 27, 2011 at 11:22 amMy husband cooks it on the grill…really good this way.
Georgie
April 27, 2011 at 10:52 amRoasting is my favorite way of cooking asparagus. It is good steamed too. I ate a lot of it when it was on sale at the store last month. You can put cheese or bacon bits with butter on steamed asparagus, but salt and pepper are just fine with me.
Rod
April 27, 2011 at 10:22 amAsparagus happens to be one of my favorite vegetables. I like it several ways. As a salad, cut raw spears into 2 inch pieces and toss with a simple garlic basil vinaigrette. Lightly steamed with young green garlic (green garlic is like green onions or scallions, you can substitute) then smothered in real butter or baked with olive oil as you do but I mince up a few cloves of garlic and mixed with the olive oil prior to drizzling and mixing with the spears. Sometimes I will drizzle and mix with the garlic olive oil and quickly roast on the charcoal grill. I also like to stir fry it with Vidalia onions and shrimp using olive oil again with minced garlic and just a splash of roasted sesame oil. It is also delicious pickled. Now, I must go find some fresh asparagus to make for supper.
Lonnie L. Dockery
April 27, 2011 at 10:19 amIf you dip it in a really thick batter and fry it a golden brown…or maybe coat it with chocolate…I could eat it!
Sheila Bergeron
April 27, 2011 at 10:18 amAsparagas is soooo good. We eat them like you do and sometimes lightly stirfry them. We’ve also eaten them in a salad.
Nancy
April 27, 2011 at 9:50 amI place it in a pan with a little bit of boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. No more, no less. It turns out great!
Mike McLain
April 27, 2011 at 8:56 amWhen I saw the title of today’s post, I was going to share my favorite quick and easy recipe. Then I saw that your favorite recipe is the same! Delicious!
Sassy
April 27, 2011 at 8:49 amI didn’t have Asparagus till well into my 40’s. I married my hubby and he loves them, so I had to try it. Much to my surprise I liked it! I’ve had steamed, dips with it, grilled, sometimes with a sauce like cheese or a hollandaise. Last year I tried wrapping a piece of bacon around 2 or 3 stalks and either baked in oven or grilled, this was a very tasty way to have them.
Ed Myers
April 27, 2011 at 8:38 amTo resolve the quantity issue, I’ve just planted two rows, 34 three year old crowns, which should provide enough annually for 15-20 years. If doing so, be sure to add super phosphate or bone meal in and around the root crowns to strengthen root development. No need to spread them out, and they won’t burn from the added phosphate. Mulch or weed well. You can pretty much ignore the shallow surface weeds, like quickweed. They don’t compete well with perennials, so dig those out of the bed. Mulching is preferred both for temperature regulation and weed control, along with general aesthetics.
For those who like Shrimp Scampi, the best way I’ve found to eat asparagus (which is fine raw and in salads, by the way) is to add garlic to taste to pan, along with juice of full lemon, some white cooking wine to taste, salt, pepper flakes and olive oil. Cook the shrimp about half way, then then add asparagus tips and stems (at least up to the woody part). Cook through, making sure the asparagus is not overcooked. Layer over pasta and love it.
Stacy Guidice
April 27, 2011 at 8:26 amTipper –
We like asperagus cooked just like you mentioned. Except we sprinkle it with crumpled blue cheese! It melts over the asperagus and is so yummy, if you like blue cheese! Even my 10 year old likes it.
Sandra
April 27, 2011 at 8:15 amthe only way i have eaten it is out of a can or jar. never had fresh, i have looked at it in the store, but had no idea how to cook it, this sounds easy and looks good. I like that bug shot, looks like some kind of shield bug to me.
Cannedquilter
April 27, 2011 at 8:13 amTipper asparagus are heavy feeders so keep plenty of compost or manure
on your asparagus and it should just get better every year.
Jim Casada
April 27, 2011 at 8:06 amTipper–I’ve had an asparagus bed, renewed once, for almost 40 years. It’s a troublesome vegetable in some ways, mainly in keep weeds at bay, but the reward is worth the effort. We like it roasted in a fashion quite similar to the way you cook it, but sprinkling some Parmesan cheese atop the spears just before you remove them from the oven is a nice touch. It is also mighty fine when boiled and topped with Hollandaise sauce. I love an asparagus omelet (just cook spears until tender, drain, and pour into egg mixture before starting to cook the omelet). Finally, Miss Ann makes an asparagus and wild rice soup which goes mighty well on a cold winter day.
There are places in the Midwest, notably Missouri and Iowa, where you find asparagus growing wild along roadsides and fences much like poke salad. For that matter, the plants with which I got started were ones I dug up in the edge of a wood lot (a nearby truck farm had asparagus and birds had distributed the seeds).
Jim Casada
http://www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com
Sheryl Paul
April 27, 2011 at 7:42 amI’ve never tried them roasted, they look good.
B. Ruth
April 27, 2011 at 7:40 amTipper,
We just gathered probably the last few pieces yesterday, for this year…We love it roasted in the oven, like yours, drizzled with oil, then I sprinkle a little parmasean cheese, sea salt and pepper. Steamed or pan steam/boiled whole, a tiny bit of water brought to a boil, cooked quickly. Our very favorite way to eat asparagus..
I make a rue..add milk to make a medium sauce, add the precooked asparagus cut in pieces and serve it over toast..yummm!
We love it, hope to get another row in this year…
Thanks,Tipper
Donna W
April 27, 2011 at 6:54 amI’m glad to see your suggestion of cooking asparagus in the oven, because I wan’t raised with this vegetable either, and wasn’t really sure how to prepare it. I have a friend who usually brings me a gallon baggie or so every spring.
GrannyPam
April 27, 2011 at 6:14 amI agree, there is never enough. I hope you enjoy what you have, though.