A week of grilling: Grilled asparagus

As we continue with grilling week, it is time to think a little outside of the box and grill some asparagus. Asparagus is a good vegetable to cook on the grill because it cooks in a short amount of time. Anything that can be cooked in 8 to 10 minutes and won't fall through the grilling grate could make a good grilling vegetable.

My husband, our family grill chef cooked this asparagus dish, also.

Part of cooking good asparagus, is buying it when it is fresh. Asparagus is a spring vegetable and it is easy to tell if it is fresh. If the bottom of the stalks are flexible and you can easily make an indention with your nail, you will have good asparagus. If it is old it can become stringy and hard to eat. It is only good when tender.

Most of the asparagus I buy needs to have the bottoms cut off just a big. I use my knife close to the bottom and if it seems hard, I check higher and cut off the part that is hard, usually around a half inch. I discard the bottoms, then wash the asparagus carefully and allow it to drain.

For this asparagus I used one skewer but two (one on each end) would have made the asparagus more sturdy and easier to turn on the grill. It might also help not to put the asparagus stalks too close together on the skewers.

I brushed the asparagus with the grilling sauce, recipe below and then placed it on the grill on medium high heat.

Grilling sauce

1/2 cup olive oil (or if you prefer, use a lighter oil like canola or almond oil)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 large cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Add any other spice you like (my family doesn't like too many spices in grilled food so this recipe is not spicy)

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Salt and pepper the vegetable to be grilled, brush on the sauce, then place on the grill. Store the leftover sauce in the refrigerator and use to brush on other vegetables.

I grill from 8 to 12 minutes, turning once. Check to see if it is done enough for you and then -- you are done. Some people like a cheese sauce with their asparagus but I just love plain asparagus -- nothing else.

Voila! Great asparagus. Tomorrow: Grilled Pork Loin.