Chapter 2: Waiting for Asparagus

I decided we should define New Year’s Day of our local-food year with something cultivated and wonderful, the much-anticipated first real vegetable of the year.…we were waiting for asparagus.

Asparagus is the year’s first major edible. It is a perennial, with a life span of many years. The rest of our plant foods are almost always the leaves, flowers, fruits, or seeds of plants that begin life in spring as seedlings and perish just a few months later when they’re frozen by autumn, or eaten, whichever comes first. Although it is available year-round, spring is the best season for fresh asparagus. Crops are harvested from late February to June, with April being the prime month. Asparagus is one of the best natural sources of folic acid, vitamins A, C, and K, some B vitamins, potassium, phosphorus, and glutathione, which is a potent antioxidant and anticarcinogen.

Last Sunday I headed out to the Los Feliz Farmers Market with the goal of acquiring some beautiful and life-altering asparagus. Clearly my hopes were high. The Los Feliz Farmers Market only began about a year ago so the need for community support to help strengthen its presence is great. I strongly encourage any Eastsiders to go.

As I often like to do, I walked the Market’s loop just looking and touching and smelling my options. Only on my second run-through do I decide on a vendor and make my purchases. I purchased 2 bunches of asparagus and some strawberries that were too pretty to pass up.

Kingsolver suggests that the simplest way to prepare asparagus is a quick sauté over high heat. I sautéed the stalks with some olive oil, butter, and salt each night for four dinners. Sunday night’s meal was truly better than I could have ever hoped. DELICIOUS! By Wednesday the stalks were looking a little sad and tasting a little bitter.

I can’t wait to get more tomorrow morning! I know that tomorrow’s dinner will not disappoint.