Grilled Asparagus for Recipe Friday

Spring seems to be in hiding here in the Pacific Northwest and we had at least an inch of snow here at our house yesterday morning. Nonetheless, by dinner time the snow had melted and the sky was clear. So we cooked dinner on the Traeger. We had pork chops along with roasted carrots, Traeger potatoes, and grilled asparagus. I decided to share my recipe for grilled asparagus because I think this is the best asparagus I’ve ever had. I like it okay steamed, but it just has a better flavor grilled.

This recipe is for cooking the asparagus on a Traeger pellet stove. The grilling time might need to be shortened on a gas or charcoal grill because they use a more direct heat. Cooking on a Traeger is a bit like cooking in a convection oven because there is indirect heat from the burning wood pellets that is distributed via a fan.

I’ve tried a number of vegetables on the Traeger, and most turn out best when enclosed in an aluminum foil packet. But asparagus is one vegetable that turns out better not covered. I bought the grilling pan that is in this picture at our local Ace Hardware store for a good price, and it works great! It’s kind of weird to cook in a pan full of holes, but when you are grilling that’s what you need.

Grilled Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 bunch of asparagus
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp summer savory

Directions:

Rinse asparagus spears. Snap off the woody bottoms of the spears. Place spears in the grilling pan and rinse. Drizzle with olive oil and toss with fingers to distribute oil. Sprinkle with savory and toss again. (I do the rinsing and drizzling by balancing the grilling pan over my smaller sink by its handles, like you would a colander.)

Place on grill for 15 minutes or until slightly tender. Serve with your favorite grilled meat.