The Perpetual Feast

I was browsing about in other food blogs and noticed that The Go Lightly Gourmet, a blogger with a similar philosophy to mine, published several Cooking Light recipes about asparagus.  What’s not to like about asparagus!  It’s tasty, low fat, and can be very elegant.  And this is the season for fresh asparagus.  Then I recalled that I made a very elegant Cooking Light recipe for the Passover buffet.  It was delicious and beautiful to look at.  I’m not sure if you would call it an appetizer, side dish, or salad, but the little that was left was lovely for lunch the next day.  It is also a make ahead dish, because it needs to marinate, which fits my buffet-making schedule.

To look best, this is should made with thinner asparagus spears. You could also use two colors of  peppers.  It is not hard to make, but allow a little time, because tying the asparagus into little bundles requires some fussing.  I also recommend using more than 10 green onions, because some of the onion ties will be too short or will tear when you get impatient.

Marinated Asparagus Bundles

2 ½ pounds asparagus
10 green onions
2 red bell peppers, cut into 20 strips
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Snap off tough ends of asparagus. Cover and cook in a small amount of boiling water 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse under cold running water; drain well. Trim white portion from green onions.  Place green onion tops in a bowl; add boiling water to cover. Drain immediately, and rinse under cold running water.

Gather asparagus into 10 bundles, and add 2 bell pepper strips to each bundle. I actually used 5 asparagus spears/bundle, which meant I had more than 10 bundles, and needed more pepper strips.  I also think that thinner pepper strips would look a little better. Tie each bundle with a green onion strip. Pull the onion ties closed gently. Place bundles in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

Combine chopped onion and next 9 ingredients (onion through pepper) in a bowl; stir well. Pour over asparagus bundles. Cover and chill 2 to 8 hours. To serve,gently  remove asparagus bundles from marinade, and discard marinade. Arrange asparagus bundles on a serving platter.  They certainly make an elegant buffet item.  Makes 10 servings (or more depending upon how you divide them) at only 0.3 grams of fat/serving.