Welcome to Asparagus Season!

This powerful green is low in calories and dense in nutrients!

My favourite producer of quality asparagus is Edgard Farms from Innisfail, AB. You can find them at local farmer’s markets in Edmonton and area. As a prestigious farm with many years of experience, they don’t use herbicides or other sprays during the picking season like many other commercial producers do.

Asparagus Highlights:

• Available in Alberta from mid May to end of June!

• Several types of asparagus (green, white, and purple)

• Versatile (can be blanched, sautéd, grilled, steamed, or even raw)

• Best storage: place asparagus bundles in a jar with water and cover with a plastic bag so they stay crisp.

• Freezing: blanch before freezing. This stops the enzyme action and retains freshness.

Facts about Asparagus:

• Asparagus is a nutrient dense superfood. Five spears of asparagus have only 25 calories, and is an excellent source of vitamins A, all B vitamins, C, and minerals including calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium, copper and phosphorus. It also contains glutathione, a powerful antioxidant.

• Approximately four asparagus spears contain 22% of the daily recommended amount of folic acid, which is especially important for pregnant women.

• Promotes digestive health, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits, supports heart health and regulates blood sugar levels.

• Sometimes people who consume asparagus notice that their urine has a different smell – sulfur odor.

• Asparagus contains a substance called purines, so people with Gout or kidney problems should be careful with asparagus consumption.

Three Ways to Enjoy Asparagus:

Asparagus Soup

Soup Ingredients:

• 1 onion - cut in small pieces

• 2 cloves of garlic - minced

• Bunch of asparagus - wash and remove hard ending. Take 5 spears of asparagus, cut into small pieces and save for later.

• 4 - 5 cups of bone broth

• Heavy cream or coconut cream

• Ghee butter

• Salt and pepper

Cooking Directions:

1. In a pot, add 1 tbsp ghee butter, add onion, sauté and add garlic and chopped asparagus.

2. Sauté one more minute, add bone broth, salt and pepper and cook for 15 minutes.

3. Let the soup cool down, then blend in Vitamix, add cream during blending.

4. In a pot, add ½ tbsp ghee butter, and add 5 saved spears of asparagus cut in small pieces, sautee for 2-3 minutes, add blended soup and cook for 5 more minutes.

5. Enjoy!

Raw Asparagus

10 spears of asparagus, cleaned, trimmed, and sliced. Put on a plate and drizzle with homemade flavour dressing.

Homemade Flavour Dressing Ingredients:

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• 2 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

• 1 clove of garlic

• sea salt, pepper

• 1 tbsp maple syrup or coconut nectar

• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

• 1-2 tbsp of water

• fresh herbs of choice: chopped basil, cilantro or parsley

Preparation Directions:

1. Press in garlic and let sit for 5-10 min on side

2. Mix all ingredients in a shaker.

Roasted Asparagus with Other Veggies (clean the fridge recipe)

Preparation Directions:

1. Cut any veggies that you have left - onion, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, asparagus

2. Mix olive oil with salt, pepper, herbs and spices that you like, drizzle over veggies and roast in the oven for 10-25 minutes.

3. How to use roasted veggies? Make a salad with Homemade Flavour Dressing or use it as a side dish for your main course.

In Alberta, we are currently in the middle of asparagus season, so now is the best time to hit up your local farmer’s market or grocery store to get this powerful green.

ENJOY!