Roast Asparagus with Cherry Tomatoes and Bacon

Oh, how wonderful to see asparagus in my supermarket that isn’t from Peru. Finally, after a very wet and late Spring, it’s asparagus season in jolly ol’ England. So long to the flavourless, woody excuse for this fine vegetable. And it has its own web site! Yes, for all things asparagus including the “Dude, Where’s My Asparagus?” locator (I’m paraphrasing), you can go to the British Asparagus Growers Association’s site: http://british-asparagus.co.uk/

For me, asparagus isn’t just a side dish or an ingredient, it’s a vehicle for gooey scoops of baked camembert, a bed for poached eggs with hollandaise sauce, and my toast finger substitute with soft boiled eggs. I usually cook it quickly in a searingly hot grill pan on the stove (or on the barbecue, hopefully soon) with just a little olive oil and seasoning. Sometimes I get a little bit fancy and wrap in it bacon and roast it. I love it fresh from the pan or cold in a salad. That asparagus is some good stuff.

I came home a bit late the other evening and had to throw together something fairly quick. I picked up some ribeye steaks on the way home and grabbed some things from the fridge that I thought would go with asparagus. Me, I’m all about throwing things in a roasting tin and not having to think too much about it. The asparagus dish was a nice accompaniment to the steak; a bit salty and smoky from the bacon and slightly sweet from the tomatoes. I didn’t add any herbs, but something like fresh thyme, oregano, or basil would work really well. A squeeze of lemon before serving would probably be quite nice, too.

We’ve got until June 21^st to enjoy this glut of homegrown asparagus before stores revert back to the frequent flyer variety. Get it now, while it actually tastes of something!