It may come as no surprise to anyone, but we really dig on Asparagus around here. Even the baby loves it (no kidding). For that matter, even the cat loves it…go figure.

Since it’s been so hot here lately we’ve avoided cooking anything in the kitchen (because we’re not…hmmm, what’s the word? Oh, stupid) and have instead been either eating salad or grilling stuff. This time we had a bunch of Asparagus in fridge so we decided that it needed to go on the grill, too.

We prepared it like we usually do: Lemon Juice, Rosemary, Olive Oil, Kosher Salt & Pepper. One thing we did differently this time (in addition to grilling it) was to save the big bowl we’d tossed it with the marinade in. After it came off the grill we put it back in the bowl and tossed it again with the residual goody.

This turned out to be a very good idea and has now been entered into our imaginary book of culinary commandments as something that YE SHALL DO EVERY TIME FROM HERE UNTO ETERNITY (Amen), or some such. Does this make it twice-marinated? Pre-marinated and post-dressed? Dressinated? Yes, that’s it: Dressinated. You heard it here first…

Honestly, why don’t we save veggie marinades and re-toss after cooking every time? Is there some kind of rule or weird cultural norm that dictates that all marinade shall be dumped ASAP regardless of use? Nay, say we. Granted, whole ‘icky meat-juice marinade’ yuckiness should be tossed after the meat’s been removed but veggies are another matter entirely.

So, here it is: Grilled Lemon & Rosemary Dressinated Asparagus Spears.

Fixin’s:

• 1lb fresh Asparagus, tough ends snapped off
• Juice of half a Lemon
• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp minced Rosemary
• Kosher Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook it:

• Preheat the grill to high
• In a gigantic bowl using tongs or your hands or whatever toss the Asparagus with all the other stuff
• Lay the Asparagus across the grill so they don’t all fall into the bottom…
• after about 2-3 minutes turn them all over or roll them around so they can cook on the other side, they should be golden and just a bit charred in spots
• Cook them for another couple of minutes and then pull them off and put them back into the big bowl.
• Toss them around again until they absorb the residual dressinade and then serve them to your very classy friends and family on fine china using crystal utensils. Or, alternatively, eat them right out of the bowl with your fingers while sitting on the deck drinking beer.

Mmmmmmmmm…

As with most of the food ideas we have, this soup started out as something completely different. Originally, it was a recipe from Emeril for Garlic-roasted Asparagus that we were asked to make for Easter. That recipe was deceptively simple: toss the Asparagus with some crushed/minced Garlic, Olive Oil, and Salt & Pepper and roast it until golden brown – about 10 minutes or so. It was very similar in execution to our Rosemary Roasted Asparagus only Emeril finished it with a squeeze of fresh Lemon Juice.

We loved the freshness that the Lemon added to the Asparagus, and since we’d been wanting to make some Asparagus soup for quite a while we decided to borrow heavily from the Easter recipe ala Emeril.

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This may be one of the richest (and best) ways to serve Artichokes ever: steamed, cored, and stuffed with a heavenly blend of Bleu Cheese, Cream, and Thyme. Top it all with a crunchy/savory layer of Parmesan, Breadcrumbs, and even more Thyme, then roast it…whew!

Essentially it’s an Artichoke with a creamy little fondue pot inside. Diners peel the leaves off of the outside and dip them into the crunchy, gooey Bleu Cheese goodness on the inside. Read more »

Giada recently had a deliciously different and simple salad on her show that needed only sliced fresh Mushrooms, shaved Parmesan, and a very simple Lemon Juice & Olive Oil dressing. It was so elegant and fresh tasting that we loved it right away, and leaving the Mushrooms raw gave it a lighter than air texture.

Of course it’s us, so we immediately began to think of ways that we could tweak it by adding a little of this or that. Julie right away struck upon the idea of adding Orecchiette pasta, White Beans, and some sweet little Green Peas to build it up a bit and our new favorite summer Pasta Salad was born.

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We had our friend Cassie from Eugene and our friends Lyndie, John, and Sophia (happy 1st birthday, Sophia!) from Portland over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and tasked Lyndie with a very general ‘bring something green’ request, which we can do with Lyndie because she’s a fabulous cook and has superior taste.

Not one to dissapoint, she arrived with about 3 pounds of fresh Green Beans. We brainstormed some ideas on how to prepare them and zeroed in on a quick sauté with some crispy little bits of pancetta. After a quick trip to the Roth’s by our house we were all set with about 4 ounces of lovely, round Pancetta slices.

We had some leftover Roasted Hazlenuts from a meal a week or so earlier which we kind of threw in as an afterthought, but which added a nice, warm, earthy flavor that was great with the Beans. And they added a little extra crunch. You could omit them if you wanted to and it wouldn’t be too detrimental to the dish. Read more »