There, amid this week’s CSA bag full of greenery, was Purple Passion, a deeply purple asparagus variety.
Even though the Rolling Prairie farmers had green asparagus, too, and even though purple asparagus in my experience turns green just like the other stuff, I couldn’t resist choosing the purple.
I always get excited by the deliveries, but this one was more exciting than usual. For the first time that I can recall—and I’ve been a subscriber since Rolling Prairie started in 1994—the farmers had broccoli to offer and a tender-leaved lettuce much like a butter lettuce although it seemed halfway between a looseleaf and head variety. I love broccoli! I love butter lettuces!
I set out to put my bounty to work. I started some water to cook rice, then washed and spun the lettuce dry and stored it in the refrigerator. (Voila! Prewashed, organic, local salad.) I minced some of that new green onions, sliced one of the stalks of broccoli (I don’t understand why people don’t eat the stalks), and sliced up some aspargus. It didn’t take much. That aspargus is huge—huge but tender. I didn’t even need to trim the freshly snapped-off ends from the 14-inch stalks.
With those jewels, plus a little oil, a little garlic, a little tamari, a smidge of sugar and some almonds, I had dinner in short order. De-licious, nutritious, satisfying. I can hardly wait till the next bag.
Jennifer (Baklava Queen) // May 16, 2008 at 5:31 am
YUM! What a satisfying and beautiful dinner that must have been!!!
Amanda // May 16, 2008 at 7:32 am
Absolutely beautiful Janet, I’ll have to try this! I couldn’t resist the purple asparagus either… but no broccoli for the small-bag people.
Janet Majure // May 16, 2008 at 8:43 am
I forgot to mention, although perhaps you can tell in the last photo, that this purple asparagus stayed at least sort of purple after the stir-fry and later when I steamed it. If you peel it, though, you will get a bright green spear as with regular asparagus.