Meat Free Monday

Did you know that asparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine? There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes,  Apicius’s third century AD De re coquinaria, Book III. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and dried the vegetable for use in winter.

Nutrition studies have shown that asparagus is a low-calorie source of folate and potassium. Although we traditional eat the spears only, its stalks are high in antioxidants, so I save these for soups.

While you can buy asparagus year round from different part of the world, the home-grown asparagus season is actually quite short – late April to mid June. So right now, this veg is in season and at its freshest. I love cooking asparagus as it involves minimum effort – simply boil the spears and add butter, lemon and salt. Here is one of my favourite ways to prepare asparagus and yes, while it involves a generous anointing with butter, the way I see it, if you buy asparagus only when it is in season, it is worth celebrating it by making it a little special once in a while 🙂

Asparagus with Lemon Butter and Parmesan

Ingredients

• 2 generous tbsp butter, at room temperature
• ½ small lemon, grated zest only
• 2 tbsp finely grated parmesan 
• garlic salt
• 12 asparagus spears
• flaked sea salt

Method

• Mix together the butter, lemon zest and grated Parmesan and season with garlic salt. Set aside.
• Snap the asparagus 2-4 cm/¾-1½in from the base of the stalks. The spears should naturally find their own breaking point. Place the asparagus in a wide saucepan of rapidly boiling salted water. Cook for 2-4 minutes depending on their thickness until just tender. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and shake off any excess water. Place on a warm plate and sit the flavoured butter on top. Stir the asparagus so it is coated in the melting butter, then sprinkle over some sea salt.