Four easy, foolproof ways to prepare asparagus

To my mind, there’s nothing more promising than a bright green bundle of asparagus, just ready to be unleashed from that rubber band holding the stalks at attention.

But because

I am sometimes, um, perhaps not as attentive as I should be, those dear, tender stalks sometimes emerge from the oven charred and crispy. It’s no wonder my college student wondered about better asparagus preparations; he learned his over-cooking ways at the foot of the master.

Fortunately, you have alternatives that preserve the sublime, tender springy wonderfulness that is asparagus. Ann Winters thinks she has perfected roasted asparagus. “I cook asparagus this way weekly to use in salads. It’s foolproof!” she says of her simple preparation. Her recipe accompanies this column.

Samantha Stoker counts on her microwave for perfect tender asparagus. “After obtaining our first ‘nuker’ many, many moons ago, we found the best way to cook asparagus was wash, break and shake,” she says. “Place in glass baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and cook on high one minute and 45 seconds. Sometimes, if it’s really fat asparagus, we might cook two minutes.”

Carol Query of Santa Cruz prefers a Jacques Pepin method that involves boiling the asparagus in a covered saucepan for a handful of minutes, then serving the asparagus topped with browned butter, salt, pepper and parsley.

And I’ve decided the fine folks at the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board have my can’t-get-enough asparagus recipe this spring. Now, I confess to a bit of California bias here. Who knew Michigan produces asparagus? But I love the advisory board’s shaved asparagus salad with toasted pine nuts and a lemony vinaigrette.