Photos by L.G. Patterson
When I was younger, asparagus always seemed like such a fancy vegetable. We had a lot of fresh vegetables, thanks to a creative mother and a large garden, but asparagus wasn’t abundant. We had a very tiny asparagus patch but it usually got trampled or snacked on by rogue cattle roaming through a left-open gate. I loved what little we harvested and really wished we could have had more of it. Asparagus is now available year-round in grocery stores.So I’m making up for lost time. In my professional world, we serve a TON of asparagus, hot and cold, roasted and blanched, and it’s always the first veggie people take from our grazing boards.This recipe celebrates spring’s asparagus season, enhanced with fresh, tart lemon. This is a quick, light sort-of-pasta dish that pairs well with salmon, chicken and pork but I’ve also thought many times about serving it under meatballs or a lovely slice of rare roast beef.
Asparagus with Orzo and Lemon
Ingredients
Pasta
- 1 box orzo pasta 16 ounce box
- 1 pound fresh asparagus spears, trimmed to get rid of toughness in the stems and cut into 1-inch pieces. Rinse thoroughly
Dressing
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice should be the juice of one lemon
- Zest of the above lemon
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 cloves garlic. minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook orzo according to package instructions.
- Set a timer and with two minutes left on orzo cooking time, add asparagus to the pot
- Drain together in a colander. Let cool slightly, then toss with the dressing
