By now, fair reader, you will have likely come to an understanding that I love food. But, in my humble opinion, not all food is equal. Not only do I believe that food made from scratch (with real ingredients) is better than food from a box--I also believe that the closer the ingredient is to how it appears naturally in the world the better. And where the ingredient appears naturally in the world matters.
Case in point: Asparagus. I love asparagus. But when I say “I love asparagus” what I mean is that I love asparagus that is grown by Rick and B-Ann Lattin; asparagus that is foraged from ditch banks; asparagus that travels only a few miles from the ground to my kitchen. I don’t eat asparagus in November, I don’t eat asparagus that has been frozen, I don’t eat asparagus that is shelf-stable, I don’t eat asparagus from Peru. My bottom line is that things taste better when you eat them during their season, especially when they are locally produced.
I promise that I am not going to use this column as my soapbox regularly broadcasting about supporting local farmers and building resiliency in our regional food system--that’s what visits to town are for. But, since spring is here and local asparagus is back, I do plan on using this space to share my cooking experiences with ingredients that are raised by our Fallon farmers. Now, back to asparagus!
The temptation to buy a bundle of asparagus overwhelmed me during a recent trip to Safeway. Right when I walked in the door, I was drawn to a display of fat asparagus spears that were coming from California. In my personal purchasing priority ranking, California’s central valley ranks in the third tier after Fallon and west central Nevada--it’s within the 400 miles that is designated as “local” by the USDA. While I do NOT consider California grown produce to be “local,” I considered this asparagus to be local-adjacent and promptly put a bunch into my cart.
After checking out, I checked in with the Lattins--if California is harvesting asparagus, Nevada is not too far behind! Dear readers, I am thrilled to tell you that the Lattin’s have started picking asparagus! Rick cautions that their harvest is directly impacted by the weather--on warm days the asparagus grows like gang-busters but a cool day slows growth. We all know spring is fickle in these parts and nothing impacts asparagus availability more than a cool day. That being said, the Lattins are bringing in between 10 and 40 pounds of asparagus daily, so head over to the farm and get yourself a bunch or two--you won’t regret it!
Before I tell you about how I prepared my bunch of god’s grass, I want to share my asparagus preferences with you.
Fat asparagus > Skinny asparagus
Asparagus should be cooked to “crisp-tender,” NO SOGGY ASPARAGUS for me!
When served as whole spears, asparagus should be eaten with your fingers
Asparagus is besties with mushrooms and tarragon!
Also BACON--bacon wrapped asparagus from the smoker or the grill is delish!
It’s okay if you don’t agree with these statements--you can eat all of the soggy, skinny asparagus that you want and I am here for it. Just don’t bring your pencil-thin spears into my kitchen!
Kelli’s Spring Salad with Asparagus and Big Beans
INGREDIENTS
1 bunch of fat asparagus--ideally from Lattin Farms
1 bulb of fennel - thinly sliced on a bias
½ red onion - cut into thin slices
1 lemon
1 small (2-ish ounce) can of anchovies - finely minced
2 cups cooked large white beans (I used Rancho Gordo Royal Corona beans--you can substitute canned cannellini beans if you must)
1 bunch tarragon - cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 T mustard (Dijon, brown, or whole grain depending on your preference--just not yellow)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper, and sugar to taste
Shaved Parmesan Cheese
DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus. Blanch asparagus in boiling water until it has turned bright green and the stalks have a little wiggle but are still crisp. Cool asparagus by submerging in a bowl of ice water. Then cut the asparagus into ½” - 1” chunks on a bias and put them in a large bowl.
2. Add sliced fennel, red onion, minced anchovies, and beans to the bowl with the asparagus. Zest the lemon directly on top of your veggies.
3. Make the salad dressing - juice the lemon into a blender. Add mustard and tarragon and blend. While the blender is running, drizzle in olive oil until you have a light greens, slightly thickened dressing. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and sugar.
4. Toss the bean and asparagus salad with the lemon-tarragon dressing and serve in bowls topped with shaved parmesan.
** Please note - I also added bacon to satisfy my husband’s request for “some sort of meat” in the salad
Kelli Kelly - Slinger of Produce. Slurper of Dumplings. Person of the Bean.
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