Gardening Newsletter Vol. 12, Issue 4 - April Roasted Asparagus

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1 I don t mean to boast, but I have quite a knack when it comes to growing asparagus. In fact, I d go so far as to say there probably isn t a single person from here to Holland that s better at screwing up growing asparagus than me. Ten years and counting growing it, ten years and counting still waiting for an edible spear. For those of you who don t know, asparagus is one of the few perennial vegetables around. It comes up year after year without fail every spring. The problem is, it takes a few years before you can harvest it. My lack of success has mainly been due to moving it around too much so it never gets completely established. This year will be no different, as I yet again am forced to move my asparagus bed. Luckily I live in an area that s loaded with farmer s markets and roadside stands come asparagus season. I also live in an area that developed what is now probably the most sought-after variety of asparagus around Guelph Millennium, which is an all-male hybrid. Yes. There is girl and boy asparagus. 1/7

2 Female Asparagus What Is It? The female asparagus plant produces thinner spears because it s concentrating on reproducing, which in this case means seed pods and, therefore, lots of asparagus babies. Female asparagus plants can reproduce both male and female offspring. Male Asparagus What Is It? Male asparagus plants, on the other hand, don t care one whit about making babies; they just want to grow up big and strong. So they concentrate only on making big, thick spears. Male plants don t have to produce seeds, so none of their energy goes toward producing them. It only goes toward making spears. This is why when David Wolyn, a professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, and his team developed an all-male variety of asparagus, people were excited! Well, asparagus people were excited. I was excited! So what about specialty asparagus like that fancy white asparagus or purple asparagus? 2/7

3 White Asparagus As it turns out, white asparagus is just green asparagus that s been grown in darkness by hilling sand or soil over it before it gets the chance to see the sun. If the asparagus spear isn t exposed to the sun, it doesn t develop chlorophyll so it doesn t turn green. Purple Asparagus Purple asparagus is a variety that grows purple all on its own without doing anything special to it, in the same way that some tomato varieties produce different colors. What to Do with It Once You ve Got Your Hands on the Fresh Stuff I come from a home that proudly served canned vegetables at meals throughout my childhood. That meant canned peas (still love them), canned beans (hate to admit it, but still love them), canned corn (you guessed it) and canned asparagus (didn t love it, don t love it, will never love it). Canned asparagus spears, if you ve never had the opportunity to experience them, taste much like something the complete should gently bow like an English butler. opposite of asparagus. They re mushy and salty and mushy. And also mushy. Fresh asparagus barely even needs to be cooked; it should have a bit of bite to it, the same way spaghetti does. When you lift a spear up by the end after cooking it, the asparagus spear shouldn t bend in half like an Olympic gymnast. It 3/7

4 My favorite way to eat asparagus is not boiled, not steamed, but roasted. Roasting brings out the asparagus flavor but also adds a little something extra. Here s how to do it. 4/7

5 Roasted Asparagus with Shaved Parmesan Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes (Approximately - the thickness of your spears will dictate how long to cook the little spring spears of joy.) Ingredients: Asparagus Olive Oil Salt Pepper Parmesan cheese (shaved) Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 F (205 C) 2. Wash asparagus and snap off tough bottoms. 3. Toss in olive oil and lay out on baking sheet. 4. Roast for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears. 5. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle generously with shaved parmesan cheese. 6. Put the pan of asparagus back in the oven under the broiler until the cheese melts and barely begins to brown. Tips When you re breaking your asparagus, hold it by the end and bend it down. The asparagus will naturally break at the point where the tender part meets the tough. Tender meets the tough. I think the band Heart recorded that in the late 70s 5/7

6 Your tips will cook more quickly than the ends of the asparagus, so have some tin foil handy to cover the tips to prevent them from burning about halfway through cooking. 6/7

7 Soup Tip! If you have leftover roasted asparagus, heating it up tends to overcook it no matter how hard you try not to. Throw it in a pot with just enough chicken or vegetable stock to cover it, simmer, throw it in a blender and you have asparagus soup. Serve with shaved Parmesan and a few large croutons on top. Eating Tip! Eat it fresh while you can. Asparagus season is quite short and you have only four to six weeks to savor it each spring. That is unless you re harvesting it from my garden, in which case there s exactly zero weeks of savoring to be had. Text and photos by Karen Bertelsen Karen Bertelsen is a Gemini Award nominated television host who has appeared on some of Canada s major networks including HGTV, W Network, Slice and MuchMoreMusic. Five years ago she started the blog The Art of Doing Stuff ( as a creative outlet for her writing and endless home projects. The Art of Doing Stuff now receives over half a million views per month and has been featured in Better Homes & Gardens, Style at Home and Canadian Gardening magazines. 7/7