Quick … you have 15 minutes, some asparagus, garlic, and lemon and you need some veggies … what do you do? Make this dish! This recipe is hands down, one of the fastest, easiest, and most delicious things you can do with the king of spring, asparagus. You can use this preparation to add into dozens of other recipes as well, making this not only a standalone side dish, but a building block of lots of other great food. A great option is this couscous with grilled asparagus. The whole thing will take 30 minutes, including grilling the asparagus.
Asparagus pro tip: Thin, thick, it doesn’t really matter, just make sure that the asparagus ends were submerged in water when you bought them. The thin stalks cook much faster, so adjust cooking times accordingly. Personally, if you are going to be chopping them to use in another dish, I think the fat stalks stand up better.
If you don’t have a grill, or just don’t feel like using it, you can easily do this in the broiler. Just make transfer everything to a large, rimmed baking sheet. Preheat the broiler on high, cook for 2-3 minutes, then shake the pan and roll the asparagus over and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
Sam Kaestner
Serves 4 as a side
10 minPrep Time
5 minCook Time
15 minTotal Time
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large bunch of asparagus, 1 to 1.5 lbs
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
METHOD
- Preheat the grill to medium. (You can also do this in the broiler. See the introduction above for the method).
- Snap the stiff, fibrous ends off of the asparagus stalks. Wash the asparagus.
- Transfer the asparagus to a flat bottomed baking dish long enough to let everything lay flat. The asparagus does not have to be in one layer.
- Mush the garlic through a garlic press directly onto the asparagus in the dish. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
- When the grill is ready, lie the asparagus in one layer on the grill. Cook for about two minutes and try and roll everything to the other side. You’ll probably have a piece or two fall through the grate. No worries, really. After about 4 minutes total cooking time, put the asparagus on a serving plate and you’re all done. If you have really thin stalks, the entire cooking time can be cut in half.