Winter may bring the rain that waters our grass and keeps the golden hills green, but for my money, there are no greens as vibrant as summer peas, green beans, and asparagus.
And while asparagus can be a finikey food (bitter, easily overcooked, undercooked), there's no better time to give it a shot than right now, with this simple palate-pleasing side dish!
ASPARAGUS with PESTO, PARMESAN and TOMATOES:
All of the ingredients are in the title, and it's a recipe without any real measurements, as you can add however much you want of any ingredient. I usually just cook a bunch of asparagus and then add toppings to taste.
I've made this dish several times, and I used to boil the asparagus: Add to a pot of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes, drain, and return to pot. Cover with a tablespoon of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
However, now I prefer to grill it, even if only on a stove-top grill pan (though outside grills give a great flavor too): Heat pan over medium-high flame, toss asparagus with 1 tablespoon olive oil and grill about 5 minutes, rotating to get marks on both sides. Turn off heat and season with salt and pepper.
On the side, prepare a bowl of pesto and tomatoes. I typically use store-bought pesto and cherry tomatoes (sliced in half), but this most recent time was a fresh pesto and chopped heirlooms from the farmer's market. If the pesto does not have cheese in the ingredients, add a few handfuls of freshly-grated Parmesan and stir together. Mix together with the chopped tomatoes.
Serve asparagus either on one central platter or individual plates. Top with a dollop of pesto tomatoes, and finish with another pinch of freshly-grated Parmesan.
Serve with a favorite meal. For instance, alongside baked cod and fingerling potatoes...mmmyum!
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