Asparagus

Asparagus is in season. At least in season in the grocery store, so that's good enough for me. Another sign of spring. Another green thing that has come to us. Spring is definitely in full bloom around here, with everything green and flowery and lush.

Stein and I love asparagus. I think our love for the vegetable deepened when we were in Spain five years ago. We went in late April, and everyone we talked to before our trip talked about asparagus. I kept thinking, in a country of wine and olives and tapas, what's the big deal about asparagus? It didn't take long before I learned about asparagus, Spanish style. And oh mama, was it good.

I can't even tell you how they cook it. (I'm sure if I scoured the internet about it, I could find out, but I'm not doing that right now). It was a combination of frying and grilling, with olive oil and garlic. After tasting it for the first time, Stein and I craved it at every meal.

One meal we had will stand out to us forever, I think. It was about five days into our trip, and we were accustomed to the local way of doing things. We ate a small breakfast, and then a big late lunch, took a siesta (my favorite part), and then ate tapas for dinner, at what would be my normal bedtime. The weather was cool in the morning, but by late afternoon, the squares around the city would be full of people sitting at outdoor cafes sipping wines and eating olives.

On this particular day, we sat at a cafe in Madrid's largest square and ordered some paella. The waiter explained to us through a conversation in my broken Spanish and his broken English, that it would be a while until the paella was ready. No problem, we said, just bring us some wine and some asparagus. One taste of that asparagus, and we didn't even care about the paella. We could've made a meal of just asparagus (and wine, of course). We lingered at that cafe for hours. We even had sunburn on one side of our faces to prove it. Nothing like being in a foreign country, sitting in a cafe, watching the people and day go by. And eating Spanish style asparagus. Man, was that good.

Now when we make it, we usually don't get too fancy with it. Sometimes we steam it, but mostly we rub it with a lot of olive oil and grill it or cook it in a big pan. The picture above is from last week when Stein cooked it on the stove in the cast iron pan. He also sprinkled a little garlic salt on it for a little flavor.

Welcome asparagus, we're glad you're here with us again.