Asparagus Tonight

I guess my spontaneous grocery shopping disease is going around. My mom just decided to splurge and buy some asparagus!!! Yeah, I'm so super excited. It's been a long time since we've had such a treat. You don't generally hear a young adult say "YEAY ASPARAGUS" but I am seriously a green-vegetable maniac... I love asparagus, spinach, artichokes, brussle sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, beans and peas. If it's green and is veggie in nature, it'll be in my stomach in about 2 seconds. Anywho, mom and I had no clue how we wanted to prepare this yummy veg, but we both agreed on one thing... it was going to be simple. No flambé stuff, or fancy julienned things, or deep-fried this or roasted that... just the veggie in all it's glory (plus some other stuff for added flavor :P)

Just Asparagus

Ingredients:

- 1 lb asparagus, cut into 3-inch lengths

- 2 tbsp butter

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 shallot, minced

- salt and pepper to tast

- 1/2 tsp each thyme and tarragon

- 1 heaping tbsp parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Boil a pot of water and cook asparagus until just tender (we enjoy ours on the slightly crisp side). Drain and set aside.

2. Place butter in non-stick pan and fry over medium heat until melted. While butter is melting, add in the herbs (if you want the flavor to be more infused, whip the herbs with the butter about 10minutes before cooking). Add in garlic and shallots, continuing to frying until just fragrant. Add in the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

3. Place the cooked asparagus in serving dish, and then drizzle the garlic-parmesan butter over the vegetables. Lightly toss the sauce and asparagus, being sure to coat all the vegetables.

Wow! This impromtu recipe was a stunner, I must say. My dad was amazed by the mere auroma coming from the kitchen as we made the garlic-parmesan butter. One bite into the crisp green asparagus and we were not ready to stop. My sisters on the other hand, like many young children, were disgusted by the strange green spears and would have no part in our culinary adventure :( Hopefully their tastes will change... and I'll remember to re-prepare this recipe, just for them (oh, and maybe for me and my parents as well!)