One more favorite springtime asparagus recipe for you - this is a weekend standby, good for days when the sun is shining and you are ready to dust off the grill after winter really starts to fade.

Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Goat Cheese Vinaigrette

1 bunch organic asparagus, washed, with the woodsy ends trimmed off

1 large shallot, minced (2-3 tablespoons)
1/2 lemon, zest and juice
1/2 cup of mild flavored extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste ( a couple pinches of each)

1/4 cup good-quality crumbly goat cheese

Fire up your grill. You are going to put the asparagus and seasoning inside a foil pocket, and cook it until the asparagus is just barely tender. The biggest risk when you are grilling asparagus in a pocket, on a grill, is over-cooking - you end up with limp, soggy spears.

Make the vinaigrette: Combine the shallots, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, and salt and pepper in a jar. Shake or whisk well until combined.

Make the foil pocket: Tear off a large piece of aluminum foil (sometimes it makes sense to double layer the foil, but at the same time it feels a bit wasteful). If you do single-layer, just be extra careful because you don't have as much packet structure going on and off the grill. Arrange the asparagus on the foil (make sure you have enough foil to fold over the stalks into a pocket) and then drizzle with a few generous tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Toss the stalks a bit to get them coated, and then decide if you want to add the goat cheese now (gets super melty) or later (maintains more structure, is more of an accent). Seal up your foil pouch - folding over and sealing the edges. Poke a few holes in the pouch to let the stem out, and place it on the grill. You don't want the asparagus to burn - so place the pocket off to the side a bit or up on a shelf if you have one. Check inside the pocket after about 8 minutes (be careful it is hot), and then decide if you need to seal it back up and cook for longer.

Plate the asparagus, and taste for seasoning. You might want to drizzle more vinaigrette on the spears before serving, and add the goat cheese if you didn't add it to the pocket before cooking.

Serves four.

Comments (1) | February 16 - 3:38 PM

category: Recipes, Vegan / Veg