Delicious Ways to Use Asparagus

These days, you can easily buy asparagus year-round, but the imported bunches of the veggies simply can’t compare to the tasty (often local) stalks found in late spring and early summer. Less is more when it comes to preparing peak-season asparagus, and a light sauce is often all you need to showcase these unique green spears at their tender best.

Asparagus Tempura with Orange Dipping Sauce

For this appetizer, use the thickest, sturdiest asparagus you can find so that they hold their texture and shape when fried in hot oil. For a light meal, you could also pile the crispy veggies atop a tossed salad and use the dipping sauce as dressing.

Find the recipe here. 

Asparagus with Sauce Gribiche

Gribiche is a cold French sauce made with capers and eggs. It has a bright, tangy flavor and offers a foolproof, lighter alternative to hollandaise.

Find the recipe here. 

Warm Spinach and Asparagus Salad with Fennel Vinaigrette

Fennel, feta cheese, oregano, and olives bring out asparagus’s Mediterranean side in this tender salad. Thin asparagus work best in this recipe.

Find the recipe here. 

Curried Quinoa Salad with Asparagus and Purple Cauliflower

Pencil-thin asparagus spears are added raw to this salad, which gets its crunch from cauliflower and its sweetness from dried apricots.

Find the recipe here. 

Roasted Asparagus with Walnut Charmoula

Charmoula is a North African sauce, made of herbs, lemon juice, oil, and spices. Traditionally served with seafood or meat, it’s also delicious with vegetables.

Find the recipe here.