Friday Favorite Side's

Did I mention I'm a full time away from home working mommy? I often tell people I work three jobs. One for my Employer, One for my church, and one HUGE one for my family. I carry a lot loads and wear many hats as most women in today's world do. So I love when I can spend an hour or less in the kitchen to have a nutritious, healthy dinner and because my own mother was so meticulous about plating I want that food to look good! Side dishes help me with that. Side dishes can help balance the nutrition on your plate along with color and texture and consistency. Today I'm going to post one vegetable three ways. It's a green vegetable because I love greens and because this week is all about green veggies in honor of the month of March! Next week we'll cover all shades of orange in honor of the "gold" at the end of the March rainbow. You love me you know you do!!

Asparagus three ways.

Asparagus, most people either love it or hate it. It has a very distinctive flavor when eaten raw (don't eat it raw) that flavor can either be enhanced or diminished depending on what you do with it. Food needs you to have an open mind and remember that cooking is an art there really aren't any rules except one. Don't poison anyone.

Asparagus Grilled:

Vegan and Vegetarians know all about grilling vegetables because it's all they eat. For those of us that eat meat we may need a little guidance into the world of grilling veggies. Here's what I've discovered after burning and dropping lots of them on the grill.
1) tin foil is awesome..use that shit!
2) put your veggies on last because they take way less time to cook on an open grill.
3) seasoning is good, too much seasoning is a disaster.

Like anything else you'll need to wash them first. Remember fruits and veggies are grown in dirt and other things so wash those suckers because the only rule in cooking is what? DON'T POISON ANYONE.
Lay the washed asparagus out on some paper towels or a kitchen towel if you're like me. Dry them. I figure that goes without saying but I'd better throw it in there. Now gather up those tender stalks of yumminess and lay them out on a baking sheet. Season them taste. I like to use some minced garlic, cracked pepper, and a teeny tiny bit of sea salt. Salt is great it moves the flavors through your mouth but be very careful with it because it's very strong as well. Now you can use a drizzle of olive oil if you'd like or you can just grill them like that. Place them on the tin foil on the grill and close the lid. They will cook quickly so don't walk too far away. You want them soft at the tops and firmer toward the bottom of the stalk. Well that's how I like them you can cook them to whatever consistency you like. Bam that quick that delicious and that's how you grill asparagus.

Asparagus Roasted:
It's not a secret that roasting veggies brings out a bright flavor. It's one of the reasons that cooks and nutritionists will tell you that if you are trying a veggie for the first time and not sure if you'll like to roast it. You'll get the true flavor of the veggie without any interference from other flavors. To roast asparagus simply move the rack in your oven from the middle to one rung up. If your oven is like mine you have multiple places you can move the oven rack to. I like to roast my veggies higher up in the oven. I don't know why it could be my OCD kicking in. Roasting veggies is the easiest way to cook a vegetable. All you need to do is pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, wash and dry your asparagus, lay them out on the cookie sheet, or roasting pan if you have one, or stoneware if you have that. It really doesn't matter just make sure it's flat so all of the Asparagus is laid out and open to the heat.
Seasonings: I'm going to list a few from easy to complex and you can mix and match and pick and choose or try something completely different because this part is all about your own tastes.

Seasonings that I've tried and taste good on Asparagus:
Olive Oil. use sparingly.
Sea Salt: use very sparingly
Pepper both regular shake and cracked. Enough that you can see the black pepper flakes on all of them.
Garlic: powder, salt, or minced. If you use powder use it gently, it has a stronger taste than fresh garlic because it's concentrated the same goes if you use the garlic salt. I prefer fresh garlic all the time when cooking but I have tried these other two.
Tony Chachere's: this is hands down the BEST Creole seasoning salt you'll ever buy. Their slogan is "Great on everything" and IT'S TRUE!!!! Anytime I need to use a seasoning salt this is the only one I pull out. You can buy it in sodium free, and gluten free, as well as regular. I love this stuff so much I'll even post a picture for you all so you can buy some yourself.

Tony's is a tad spicy and the more you use of it the spicier it will make your food so if you're new to Tony's try it on your finger before you shake it all over your food.
Cheese: Parmesan, and mozzarella are good cheeses to pair with Asparagus.

That's it really for seasoning. You want to keep it light so the true flavor of the root vegetable can come through. Once you've got them seasoned the way you like them pop them in the oven at 350 and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes depending on your stove and the altitude you live at. You want them be browned on the edges and bright green everywhere else.

Asparagus Pan Fried:

O.k. I'll be honest this is not my favorite way to east asparagus but my kids and some people I know who don't really like the taste of asparagus have raved about eating it this way. Basically you're going to make asparagus fries.

1st. Step: Soak your asparagus in buttermilk for about 30-40 minutes.

2nd Step: In a large bowl combine 1 cup flour, 2 tbsp. corn meal, 1 egg and mix until smooth.

3rd Step: Get out your biggest Skillet and heat the oil for frying.*
You can use a deep fryer if you have one I just don't have fancy gadgets like that.

4th Step: Remove the asparagus from the buttermilk and roll in the wet batter and drop that in the heated oil. Simply fry till the batter is cooked through. Do that for all of the Asparagus.

Dipping sauce: Because you know you can't eat fries without SOMETHING to dip them in!!!
Just say no to Ketchup on this one!!
You want to use a nice light Ranch dressing or Blue Cheese salad dressing.

I hope you find at least one of these way to eat Asparagus delicious and fun! Happy Friday All!!