Simple Sauteed Asparagus

Growing up on the farm, asparagus was always boiled until tender, and then served with butter, salt, and pepper. Simple, pretty healthy, and nutritious! But I have to say, I didn’t really gain an appreciation for asparagus until I got older, and I think finding other ways to serve it helped. Even though boiled asparagus will always be the stand-by, my favorite way to cook it at the moment is tossed in a pan with some fresh garlic (or garlic scapes) and olive oil. Sometimes I’ll add parmasean cheese, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar or soy sauce to switch it up.

Ingredients:

About 2 tsps Olive Oil or Butter
1 pound Asparagus
1 Clove Garlic, minced, or 2 Tbsp Garlic Scapes, minced
Salt to taste

1. Rinse the asparagus thoroughly (it grows in the sandy soil by our farm market, and often gritty grains of sand cling to it), then cut into one inch pieces.

2. In a large frying pan, warm the olive oil over medium heat.

3. Add minced garlic and asparagus. Stir to keep the garlic from sticking and cover with a lid. Cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Tip: I’ve found that the water clinging to the asparagus helps to keep everything from drying out and sticking to the pan- sometimes I’ll add a little more water and cover it with a lid as it cooks, to create steam.

Variations: At the end, toss with 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice and  1/2 tsp of lemon zest.
Sprinkle with chopped walnuts or grated parmasean cheese.
Stir 2 tsps of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar into the cooked asparagus. 

If you have a favorite asparagus recipe, send it our way. We would love to try it out and share it!