First things first:

RIP Andy Williams. Even though you were a long-standing inside joke between me and the hubby, you were a classic and loved by many during your era

I discovered a Fresh Food Wednesday Blog link up that I decided to join.  Get more fresh food ideas by visiting Gastronomical Sovereignty .

For my Fresh Food Wednesday blog I have asparagus.  Asparagus has got to be one of my top five veggies to cook and eat.  I used Rocco Di Spirito’s Now Eat This Italian cook book  for inspiration. I know I said this on a previous post, but this book is really good.  He has a page where he shows you how to toast garlic slices.  I used the garlic slices in this sautéed Asparagus dish.

Order it by clicking on the Amazon.com ad on the left of my blog.

Ingredients for the Toasted Garlic Slices

• 6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions

In a COLD large non stick pan, add the olive oil.  Toss in your sliced garlic.  Turn the heat to medium high and toast the garlic until the edges begin to brown.  Turn the garlic slices over one at a time until they are dark brown about 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from pan.  If you decide you want to make more garlic, you can store the unused garlic in a glass container for future use.

Ingredients for the Sautéed Asparagus

1 PP per serving

• 1 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed*
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• a pinch of coarse sea salt
• 1/2 lemon for juicing

Using the same pan that you made the garlic slices heat on medium heat.  Add the asparagus.  Sprinkle with the coarse sea salt and the red pepper flakes.  Sauté until they become tender. Add the garlic slices and sauté about one minute.  turn off the heat.  squeeze with lemon juice.

Serve!

We had these fresh asparagus with a seasoned Morton’s grilled Tri Tip from Costco. The hubby and I were in hog heaven.

* To trim asparagus take each spear with both hands and gently bend it until it snaps naturally.  Discard the bottom portion of the spear.

Carry on folks.

PS be on the look out for my podcast with Heather Robertson from Half Size Me