I'm kind of obsessed with my produce box. And although there are a couple of downfalls (like not giving me any reason to go to the farmers market), I'm still having way too much fun with it. It definitely makes me appreciate what's in-season and I feel like I have to capture every recipe I want to make with that ingredient before it's season is over. And for those of you in Chicago, from what I hear you have a little bit of time left for local asparagus. Which is why I'm sharing this recipe with you. Asparagus has been one of my favorite ingredients to date. Some of my other favorites are spinach (so many uses), herbs (which I always buy anyway) and tomato (sadly, just one lonely one). Although I have to say I could live without the saute mix. There is SO much of it and I just don't love sauteed greens that much, but it's forcing me to be a bit more creative. Yeah yeah yeah and I know... I should eat my greens.
So, eating seasonally. It's been on my mind. Maybe also in part because I'm currently reading
Animal, Vegetable Miracle. I was the odd man out for a bit with all the other volunteers at the farmers market as it seems to be the one book that everyone in that type of foodie-culture has read, but now I am seriously into it. It's about a family that only eats only local food for an entire year. It talks about all of the benefits of doing so and although I have made a concerted effort toward doing this in some ways over the past couple of years, I've realized it certainly is easier eating local in Midwest in the summer, but would require some serious preparation (and a little boredom in my opinion) to get through the winter. So I will admit I'm not willing to go for it 100%, but I'm definitely doing what I can to be part of this localvore movement. And now that I've transitioned from just occasionally shopping the farmers markets to getting most of my produce locally (via produce box) I'm thinking of my next change... organizing my cooking binder. (Okay, hear me out) I have my cooking binder (but really it's 4) divided up and organized like a cookbook (salad, appetizer, meat, pasta) and am thinking I should transition it by season instead. I am already drawn more to the stew section more in the winter and the grill recipes in the summer but hopefully this will help direct me even more. Plus any good organizing project gets me pretty excited.
So let's just say this is a recipe from the (soon-to-be) grill section of my binder. It's one of those grill recipes that I hold on to all winter but never use. I discovered it last year and made it over and over again which is always the true sign of how good a recipe is. Something about the grill makes it better than just roasting in the oven. Or so I think, as I have to say I haven't tried roasting it. I (of course) make quite a generous amount of sauce so there are extras for whatever grilled meat you make on the side.
Trish's Tips: One of my cooking tricks, seeing as it is the season of bare arms and bathing suits, is to substitute half of the mayo here for Greek-style yogurt. There are seriously (way) more calories in 2 tablespoons of mayo than a cup (yes, CUP!) of yogurt. And although I am definitely not a calorie counter, I am well aware that I tend to like an extremely generous sauce to vegetable ratio and therefore need to make some sacrifices. Plus yogurt has a lot of health benefits. I'm not into swapping things out for tasteless fake crap like artificial sweeteners or high-fructose laden anything, but pure, organic yogurt for mayo? That works for me. And it works in everything. Try the swap in egg salad, tuna salad or chicken salad. My sister swaps out half yogurt for sour cream as well. It's the same texture, but you just have to be somewhat cautious about the sourness plain yogurt can have, but if you have enough other flavors going on it's usually fine. If you have a hard time finding Greek-style yogurt you can drain regular plain yogurt over a paper towel and a strainer. Pour it in and let some of the liquid drain overnight. I've never tried it but have heard it works great! It just might be cheaper too although I can't say for sure... As always, this sauce is delicious so make leftovers and would be great rubbed on a pork tenderloin and grilled, or let some run into your rice pilaf. We had it with grilled kebabs with beef and definitely snuck a little dipping sauce for them and it was great! This recipe originally says to 'marinate' the vegetables, but I have a hard time believing that it really makes a difference so I didn't.
Adapted from Food & Wine Magazine June 2009
Ingredients:
2 TBL mayonnaise
2 TBL plain Greek-style yogurt (I like low-fat or fat free, but use whatever you want)
1/4 cup grainy mustard (the kind that you can see the seeds. Sometimes called stone ground mustard)
2-3 TBL fresh lemon juice
2-3 TBL olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 lb thick asparagus peeled
Directions:
Light a grill. In a shallow dish, whisk the mayonnaise and yogurt with the mustard, oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust as needed. Add the asparagus and turn to coat.
Grill the asparagus over moderately high heat, turning occasionally until the spears are tender and lightly blistered in spots about 3-8 minutes depending on the thickness of your asparagus. If you are on the fence, take it off; it will keep cooking after you remove it from the grill. Serve hot or at room temperature. Save the leftover sauce you coated it in and serve for those that like generous sauce proportions (like me!).
