Asparagus with Sesame Seeds: a quick and easy side dish
It's asparagus season in Britain, so we're eating a lot of asparagus. Almost every day I find myself staring at a bunch of local asparagus (my last bunch was from Herefordshire, near Wales) and trying to decide what to do with it.
The other day we were having a Chinese stir-fry, so I gave asparagus the Asian treatment. After breaking off the tough ends (simply hold them and break them at the natural breaking point) I cut the stems into 1 inch pieces.
I heated some sesame oil in a wok, and added the asparagus. Meanwhile, I toasted some sesame seeds in an iron skillet, watching carefully to see that they didn't burn.
When the asparagus was done, I removed it to a plate, and sprinkled the seeds on top. Voila! Nearly instant side dish to accompany our stir-fry.
The pieces were really nice dipped in the dipping sauce for the spring rolls, made with two tablespoons tamari and one tablespoon rice wine vinegar.
Asparagus season lasts throughout May. If you have any more ideas for cooking asparagus, please post in comments!