SEASONAL RECIPE ROUNDUP | ASPARAGUS
Our late winter recipe roundup was all about that sweet potato, and we're excited to bring you a Spring recipe roundup highlighting one of the season's all-stars... ASPARAGUS. Before we get into the digestive boosting, anti-inflammatory goodness that is asparagus, lets talk about all the good feels Spring is bringing the IWR team so far!
Jenn made her way to Japan with the fam and I vacationed with mine in Puerto Rico. Our soulful travel sessions this Spring have definitely treated us well! Sake, sushi, and skiing for Jenn and my moms 60th birthday party, mofongo (mashed plantains), and medicinal plant walks for me.
After our jet lag wore off, we both began fancying up our homes with ORGANIC GARDENS (how incredibly Spring of us) ! I signed up for an e-course, bought a few books, and won $300 worth of organic, heirloom seeds in a gardening contest I entered (woohoo!), but to be honest, I am STILL a little confused about how this whole germinating seeds/growing a garden thing goes down. I am keeping the faith though! Thank goodness Spring comes with that pep in your step feeling that makes you think you can do it all! Jenn and I both hope to not only be eating garden grown salads by summer, but to also harvest fresh food and herbs for our October 2016 Malibu Ayurveda, Alignment + Yoga Retreat (are you coming?!). That's our huge event upgrade this year... trying to ORGANICALLY GROW THE GREENS WE SERVE! We'll be updating you on our garden shenanigans via our new hashtag: #IWRgarden.
PS Attempting to grow my own food as of late makes me especially grateful for the grocery store and farmer's market, so let's get back to the seasonal recipe roundup, shall we? There are several amazing ingredients that make their debut in Spring, but for simplicity's sake, I like to deal with one at a time. You know, REALLY get to know it in all forms by baking it, chopping it, sautéing it, blanching it, or whatever fancy new kitchen term (that I usually have to google) my food bloggin' friends say is a MUST try. Cat's outta the bag. Asparagus was the guy I swiped right on. Here are the top 5 asparagus recipes after my heart this Spring. If you attempt to make anything from our recipe roundup posts, we'd love to see it, so share it using #IWRseasonalreciperoundup
No. 1 | SPRINGTIME SOCCA
What's a socca? If you look it up in the dictionary I think it'll say: "A life changing pizza-pancake like thing that you won't get quite right at first, but once you do, you'll end up making non-stop." At least that's what happened to me last year when I made this springtime recipe from our beloved IWR Malibu 2016 chef, Claire. As soon as I saw those slender green stalks appear at the market this year, this recipe instantly came to mind as one of last Spring's faves.
No. 2| ASPARAGUS PESTO TART
A Forest Feast is one of my favorite cookbooks. So much so, that I gifted it to IWR's super talented photog, Alexa Gray, for her birthday (here's the whole birthday spread in it's full instaworthy glory). Apparently this asparagus pesto tart is one of the most made and enjoyed recipes from the book. Brie + a puff pastry? How could it not be?!
No. 3 | SPRING GREEN LEMON AND BASIL PASTA
When a certain food has it's window, take advantage! I like to think of changing up my ingredients every season instead of overwhelming myself with switching up my ingredients dramatically every meal. It's a money and sanity saver. Plus, Ayurveda believes that consistently overwhelming your system with complex food combinations and dramatically different ingredients at every meal, weakens your digestive fire (agni). Love & Lemon's pasta recipes always deliver. I am cataloging this one under "when I need a satisfying lunch." (In Ayurveda, it is advised that lunch be your biggest meal because agni is at it's peak, and your digestive enzymes are more readily available to breakdown your food).
No. 4 | RICE-LESS RISOTTO WITH RAMPS AND ASPARAGUS
Some days I get really determined to try new recipes only to go buy 17 new ingredients that I never use again. *SIGH.* Working with one seasonal ingredient at a time frees me from that disappointment, plus repeating ingredients a few times a week is also easy on the wallet (=more money for TRAVEL. I see you Iceland.) This My New Roots recipe only requires 6 fresh ingredients, 2 of which are white asparagus and green asparagus. I can get down on that.
No. 5 | ASPARAGUS BRAISED WITH FRESH ROSEMARY AND BAY LEAVES
Different plants contain differing amounts of vitamins, minerals and phytochemistry. Our body extracts those nutrients from our food through the digestive process and it goes to work healing, maintaining, and building our bodies. BUT the phytochemistry takes awhile to build up in our bodies and do things like fight inflammation and build up our immune system. One single meal can't accomplish that. If we want the benefits of our food circulating in our blood stream, we have to jam on the same seasonal foods for a bit to ensure the effect can kick in. That's why I never feel bad overdosing on anything that's in season. This Foods52 list is a fool's proof way of sneakin' asparagus into all your Springtime meals.
