One of the many reasons why I love the month of May, is that asparagus is in season. I’ve been seeing so many incredible looking asparagus recipes (like here, here and here) which I truly intend to try, but before I give those a whirl, I had to make my extremely unhealthy, yet oh-so-worth it asparagus alfredo. The weather just told me it was time.
Today was absolutely beautiful: warm, bordering on hot, with blue skies and a somewhat balmy feel in the air as the afternoon progressed. A stroll to the market yielded the necessary ingredients for the main dish, and while perusing the produce, the fruit looked and smelled so luscious, that I decided I’d make a little fruit salad for the side. This evening as I cooked with all of the windows thrown open, bossa nova music blaring and the baby happily playing (okay, so honestly, it was hit or miss and required a great deal of multi-tasking to keep a melt down at bay), the sky opened and we had a massive, 15-minute torrential downpour. I love this kind of weather. While I fretted a bit over my tender seedlings that took an incredible (hopefully not fatal) beating, the sounds of the pot bubbling, the knife chopping and the guitar strumming kept my spirits alive. Things were only made better when my husband came through the door, sopping wet, and exclaimed “SWEET ASS! ALFREDO!” Soon after, we feasted.
A pinch of grated nutmeg gives the rich, buttery sauce a warmness that instantly makes me feel all homey-good. I went back for seconds and had to unbutton my pants. Truth. I’ve used this alfredo recipe for years, but I typically add more parmesan than what is called for, a bit less salt, and this time I used linguine noodles, using this brand which I love oh so much, and it’s not just because the packaging is frame-worthy.
The fruit salad was both tart and deliciously sweet from the lime and honey that I dressed the fruit with; a little lesson I gleaned from my father-in-law’s partner. Thanks Drew. Since I rarely ever measure anything when I’m wingin’ it, here’s an approximation of what I did:
- 1 chopped Braeburn apple
- 1/2 cut kiwi
- 1/2 pint blueberries
- 1/2 lb. sliced strawberries
- 1 small bunch seedless purple grapes, halved
- berries (raspberries but especially blackberries or boysenberries) are nice if available
- honey
- 1/2 the juice from a lime
Cut the fruit and throw into a bowl. Drizzle honey over the top, squeeze the lime juice over the fruit and honey. Toss and serve chilled. Sprinkle a bit of lime zest over the top of each serving if you’re feeling fancy. Mangia!
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10 Responses to “asparagus, it’s worth the side effect”
Looks awesome! I made asparagus last night too (in stir fry form). Isn’t Spring great?!
Yum! That sounds good and significantly more healthy than what I made! Spring is pretty rad. I got caught in the rain several times today and since it was so warm, I didn’t even mind it. Hope you’re doing well and thanks for the comment!
on May 18th, 2010 at 12:30 pm #
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by bambinosteps. bambinosteps said: asparagus, it's worth the side effect http://is.gd/ceYvv [...]
Fruit Salad! Yummy, Yummy! I had to save both of these recipes for my collection. They both look so good! I will be making the fruit salad Saturday for a friend’s birthday party. I never thought of putting honey on it, sounds delicious! Thank you!
It’s so super good! Just a drizzle is all you need and the lime cuts the sweetness and brings out the tartness of the apples. Let me know how everyone likes it!
on May 26th, 2010 at 12:06 pm #
[...] doors and peered inside, I had a moment of brilliance. I saw that little lime leftover from the dressing I made the evening before and knew it was the perfect pick-me-up for a dreary day. Here’s an [...]
on May 28th, 2010 at 9:55 am #
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on September 10th, 2011 at 6:58 pm #
[...] Salad with Honey Lime Dressing: You may remember that I love this dressing over fruit. I chopped 1 small pineapple, 1 Braeburn apple, 1 orange, 1 banana, and a [...]