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If you grew up I did, most of the asparagus you ever ate came from a can and was mushy or quite tender. You added a bit of hollandaise sauce to it or some other cheese sauce to add flavor.

The asparagus at dinner may have been a once-in-a-few-months side dish to a meal. But with all of the health benefits of asparagus, high in Vitamin C, folic acid, and fiber, why not make asparagus a staple in your diet?

In California, many growers and asparagus organizations promote asparagus to consumers by offering recipes on the product tags to increase their sales.

One recipe the Californians particularly like is grilling asparagus. In Michigan, another region where U.S. asparagus grows commercially, folks tend to broil theirs. Whether you broil or grill, the asparagus is tasty.

For grilling, though, the jumbo sizes work the best, but even the small asparagus spears can be grilled.

You can use either your backyard barbeque grill, your stove-top grill, or your George Foreman grill (or its many imitators), whichever you have.

Here’s what you’ll need for the recipe:

10 asparagus spears
1 tablespoon of olive oil or melted butter
Salt
Parmesan cheese – either the sprinkles kind in a container or freshly grated (optional)

After washing the asparagus and cutting off any tough stalk ends, you’re ready to prepare your grilled asparagus.

Take a plate or pan and coat the bottom with the olive oil. Then, place the asparagus spears in the pan or on the plate, turning the spears to make sure they are coated with oil.

Place the spears on the hot grill and salt to taste. You can grill the spears as long as you like, but about one or two minutes on each side is sufficient. Depending on how tender you want your spears, you may grill them a bit longer.
 
After you’ve grilled your spears, place the asparagus on your plate or your serving dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

The parmesan cheese tip came from Linda and Neil Drake, owners of Grayson and Emma’s Garden Spot, shared. The taste is very delicious.

If you have a special recipe you’d like to share, e-mail me: bobbie@thebackyardgrower.com.
    – Bobbie Whitehead