Spring in western PA brings the coveted asparagus crop. Our patch is well over 20 years old and still producing beautiful, succulent spears of the perennial vegetable. We hand pick it. The spear will snap where tender meets tough. Just trim a smidge off the bottom of the spear and you are good to go. Many people do not appreciate asparagus. My guess is they have not had it prepared correctly. My new favorite way to fix it is roasting the spears with olive oil and sea salt. Set your oven to 400 degrees. Select the thicker spears and align on a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle a good olive oil over them and sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for about 10 minutes then roll the spears over and roast some more. I wait until they are slightly browned. You can decide how you like them best.
Asparagus season is spread over about 8 weeks. Usually starting in late April and going thru late May, depending on the weather. It pouts in cold weather but comes back quick with warmer night temperatures.
