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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We can’t really remember exactly where this recipe came from (which means we can’t remember who we stole it from) but it’s our default non-salad vegetable for the most part. We love Rosemary anyway (which is good, because if you plant one you’ll have Rosemary for the rest of your life) and Asparagus is such a great vehicle for it that we tend to eat it all the time. It’s a great side for our fancy Beef Tenderloin, it’s super with brunch, and it also makes a fun finger food. Roasting Asparagus beats the pants off of steaming it any day. It intensifies the flavors and prevents sliminess. Read more »