Grilled Asparagus

Good food, cooked quickly

When Don was growing up, asparagus was on his top three most hated foods (brussel sprouts easily took the #1 spot, lima beans #2). But his mom loved asparagus, lima beans and brussel sprouts, so they showed up often. Skip ahead 30 years. One day he ate at a restaurant that served grilled asparagus and Don loved them. Since that day he’s been playing around with the veggie on the grill and has finally perfected his recipe. Now hardly a week goes by that asparagus isn’t on the menu.

First step…don’t boil them. That’s how Don grew up. Ick.

There are two versions to Don’s recipe. Both are the same except for the complexity of the ingredients.

Ingredients for perfectly acceptable asparagus:

Thin Asparagus bunch

Olive Oil

Montreal Chicken Seasoning

Ingredients for GREAT asparagus:

Thin asparagus bunch

California Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Napa Valley, Wine Country Kitchens)

Tutu’s Organic All Purpose Seasoning (Hawaiian company, Aloha Spice Company)

Directions

For a couple months Don experimented with various seasoning mixes, the Montreal Chicken (any supermarket) was the best blend of herbs and salt. Wash and cut off the thick ends of the asparagus. Put the asparagus in a glass baking dish (a plate is OK, the baking dish is flat). Drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with the seasoning. Let sit while you grill or cook the rest of your meal. Bring the grill to a medium heat, put out asparagus on a single layer. The olive oil may cause small flare-ups, keep an eye these to prevent over-cooking. Cook for 2 minutes, roll and turn. Cook for 2 more. It should have some grill marks, but should not burn or turn dark. You want it between crispy and limp. Test while cooking. Serve immediately. This should be the last thing on the plate right before serving.

Great with chicken, fish and lamb.

Backstory

We grilled our first batches and they were fine using our standard olive oil and seasoning. But then we discovered California olive oils and their rich flavors (sooo much better than Italian olive oils). That made it better. We even flew back from the west coast and checked our bags to bring back this higher end oil before we discovered it at (of all places) Winn Dixie. On a fluke we ended up in a Olive Oil store in St. Augustine (The Ancient Olive) and bought a bottle of California Lemon. This is California olives cold pressed with lemons. Wow. Then we went to Hawaii and brought back some Tutu’s from the Aloha Spice Company. The perfect fit. If you have access to one of the Ancient Olive stores, you can order the Aloha Spices online. Very possibly the best asparagus recipe ever!

If you order the Aloha Spice, it’s great on other foods too. That may be the next posting.