My latest food crush grows in ditches and tastes like summer. I always hated asparagus growing up, but have come to really like it as an adult. In my early married years I tried baking it a few times, and even enjoyed success with it when I had it smothered in sauces. My white Béchamel Mornay cheese sauce was a favorite. However, I usually ended up with asparagus that dried out, so I never could understand why people loved it so much.
Once I started pan-frying it in butter, my entire perspective changed. Or maybe I just grew up a little. Or my taste buds matured. Who knows?
I ended up with a plethora of it after helping at the food pantry one day. Apparently a lot of people either don’t like it or don’t know how to cook it… and through my having more than enough to experiment with, I ended up discovering a Pinterest goldmine of recipes for it.
I made four batches of asparagus last month.
The first was just pan fried in butter with garlic, salt, and pepper. Mmmm.
The second was pan fried with butter, onion, bacon, and pepper. Double Mmmm.
(Note: I fry it until the tips are a bit tender, but there is still a soft crunch – I don’t like it stringy. If they had such a thing as al dente for asparagus, it would be the way I like it.)
With two bunches left, I decided to step out on a limb and try it for breakfast.
I cut the ends off, cut the spears in half, and toss them on the pan in some butter. I used shallots and chopped bacon for extra flavor. Then I removed it from the pan and fried two eggs in the leftover drippings. Just before eating, I placed the eggs on top and sprinkled with Parmesan. It was the best breakfast I’ve had in quite a while.
This weekend, my daughter was gone and my husband and kids had already eaten lunch, so I made myself another batch with fried eggs. This time, I used a green jalapeno cream sauce (left over from Tacodeli) along with the butter and fried some chopped jalapeno and fresh green onions with it. After topping the cooked asparagus with my two fried eggs, I sprinkled it with jalapeno jack cheese.
Boy howdy.
I’m sitting here trying not to go cook it again for a bedtime snack.
If you love asparagus and spicy foods, you would love my Texas version of eggs and asparagus! Of course, for a vegetarian version you could leave off the bacon. I feel sorry for you if you leave off the eggs. Mmmmm.
{ Eat your veggies! }
Heather