Last night when I got home from the gym (a killer spin class and some squats and kettlebell swings), all I wanted was a bath and food. Something quick and yummy. Something protein ladden and kinda good for me.
I remembered I have purchased a couple of bunches of asparagus and remembered how we had it as kids. My mom would saute it with butter flavored with garlic salt and sprinkle the finished dish with toasted pecans. It was simple but so delicious that somehow it felt gourmet.
I didn't have any pecans but I did have some pine nuts, and even thought garlic salt was a regular pantry staple growing up, I never use it. I'd rather use fresh garlic. So I got out the asparagus and as I was pulling it out, I saw this 1/4 of a yellow onion I had to use up and took it out as well. I quickly toasted the pine nuts in a dry skillet; a task I find really satisfying...I have no clue why. I melted a good sized slab of butter in my skillet and tossed big chunks of the onion into the pan too. If I wasn't being lazy, I would have chopped them more finely, but eh, it was only me eating. When the onions were soft, in when the garlic, a good two pinches of salt, a quick sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper and the rinsed and prepped asparagus.
I put a lid on the entire lot and wait until the asparagus was just tender enough. I like my asparagus kinda crunchy. I slid the entire mess on a plate with 1/2 a cold roasted chicken I had in my fridge from my banh mi dinner. I sprinkled the pine nuts over the asparagus and covered the entire plate with more salt and more pepper (I'm a total salt fiend) and sat myself down to eat.
It was all delicious. The asparagus tasted like spring to me and made me extremely happy. It reminded me that season change is bound to happen (even in Boston) any day now. The chicken was flavorful and didn't need anything more than the salt/pepper but if it did, I would have shared my recipe for wassabi honey mustard.
Yay for spring!
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