One Great . . . asparagus salad topping

Do I run too many asparagus recipes in the spring? Guilty as charged. With no apologies: Asparagus is one of those things that tastes fabulous when it's fresh and disappointing when it's frozen or canned. When it's in season, you have to eat your fill because it won't be back in season for 11 months.

Still, eating your way through that much asparagus can get a little repetitive. I've worked my way through several cooking methods -- microwave-steaming, oven-roasting, pan-braising. But what I wanted recently was a new way to top it.

I found just what I wanted on www.seriouseats.com, which in turn adapted it from Jacques Pepin: A really easy dressing with chopped hard-cooked egg. I made it for an impromptu dinner party this weekend and it was tempting to skip the asparagus and eat the dressing with a spoon. (The sauce made a lot, though: You could half the sauce ingredients and only use one or two eggs.)

Asparagus With Dijon Mustard Sauce and Hard-Cooked Egg

3 eggs
2 bunches thick asparagus, bottom ends trimmed or snapped off (about 1 pound)
1 tablespoon minced chives (garnish; optional)
Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Pinch of salt and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper

PLACE the eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Cover, remove from heat and let stand 16 minutes. Remove eggs to a boil of ice water or rinse to cool. Peel and roughly chop.

COOK asparagus however you like (it works great with this microwave-steaming method from Alton Brown: www.obsbite.blogspot.com.

MIX mayonnaise, mustard, water and vinegar in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

ARRANGE asparagus spears on a platter or on salad plates. Spoon the sauce over them. Top with chopped egg and chives (if you're into garnishing).

YIELD: 4 servings.

PHOTO: Serious Eats.

Alton Brown's great trick for asparagus

When asparagus is in season, I have one simple mission: Get as much of it in me as possible. This year, I might have time to get enough. The fresh, local asparagus turned up at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market last week.

How to cook it without getting bored? I usually roast it (toss the stalks with a little olive oil, sea salt and pepper in a single layer in a shallow pan and slide it in the oven for 10 or 15 minutes at 375.) Or I pan-roast it: Put in a cast-iron skillet with 2 tablespoons oil and 2 tablespoons water, cover and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, until the water cooks away and the asparagus is finishing in the oil.

Both are fine. But I wanted more. Sometimes, I don't want to heat up the oven, or the top of the stove is busy with other things. I was wasting time -- um, doing research -- one day last week when I stumbled on a video by Alton Brown on the best way to microwave asparagus.

I tried his method twice this weekend and darned if Geek Guy isn't right. It's pretty much foolproof and it yields asparagus that is sweet and grassy, with just enough crunch left.

You can watch his video below, or I'll spare you all the flipping camera tricks and just tell you how to do it:
1. Pour 1/4 cup water into a shallow plate.

2. Take 2 paper towels (he says 3 or 4, but I only needed 2), fold them up to fit in the plate and place them on the plate, turning to soak up all the water.

3. Unfold the very wet paper towels and place your trimmed asparagus on it in a single layer. (He says a pound, but it works for smaller amounts.)

4. Sprinkle with salt -- kosher, sea or regular. About 1/2 teaspoon for 1 pound, a little less for less.

5. Roll up the asparagus in the paper towels. Place in the microwave.

6. Zap for 3 to 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears. (3:30 was perfect for fatter spears; skinny ones probably only need 2:30). Unroll and eat.

Thanks, Alton.

One Great . . . asparagus with miso butter

In a burst of healthfulness last year, I bought a small tub of white miso, driven by a suggestion from a fellow food writer that a little miso makes a good topping for a baked sweet potato. It does, although I quickly discovered "a little" is key. Even the milder white miso is a strong flavor.

The easy way to describe miso is as a fermented soybean paste, but that's not completely accurate. There is more than soy in miso. The pastes vary in color and intensity -- red and mixed misos also are common -- and they can include grains, such as barley or rice. They also can be made from other beans beside soybeans.

Since a little goes a long way, my tub was lasting a while. Then, just as asparagus was starting to show back up in stores, I spotted an idea inspired by New York chef David Chang: Miso butter.

One night when I needed to throw together a fast supper for myself, I gave it a try and was stunned at how tasty this stuff is. As a topping, it's as easy as it gets: Half miso, half room-temp unsalted butter, whisked together with a fork. The sweetness and creaminess of the butter complements the intense salty/savoriness of the miso. Chang's version also tops the asparagus with a poached egg, so the runny yolk mixes with the butter. That makes a great simple meal, although it also works great just to toss a little hot asparagus with a little of the butter mixture.

I'm starting to see more ideas for using miso butter cropping up: Toss it with roasted corn, dab it on flank steak, It's a completely different set of flavors, and a great spring trick. Oh, and yes, it's also amazing on a baked sweet potato.

Asparagus With Miso Butter
Inspired by David Chang and adapted from a number of online versions.

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons white miso (also known as shiromiso)
1 bunch of asparagus (about 5 to 6 stalks per serving)
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 eggs
Salt and pepper

Place the butter and miso at room temperature for 10 minutes or so, until soft enough to whisk together. Set aside.

Cook the asparagus: Either toss the stalks with a little olive oil and roast in a 375-degree oven for 5 to 8 minutes, or heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the asparagus and a couple of tablespoons of water, cover and saute for about 8 minutes, until the water is evaporated and the asparagus is crisp tender.

Bring a small pot of water to boil, add the vinegar and reduce the heat to keep the water just simmering. Carefully crack the eggs into the water and cook until the whites are just set, 3 to 5 minutes.

Place a little of the miso butter on a serving plate. Top with the hot asparagus. Remove the eggs from the saucepan with a slotted spoon and place on the asparagus. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately. If you have any miso butter left over, just refrigerate it and use it on another dish, such as any roasted vegetable or a grilled steak.

Makes 2 servings.

One Great . . . asparagus and avocado salad

This spring has turned weather on its side. Chilly one morning and hot that afternoon, it barely feels like we've gotten a winter at all.

Even though it has felt like spring off and on since January, it's finally time to get in the mood for the real spring. In honor of a year that's been turned on its side, I'm going to offer a salad that turned my world on its side.

Jim Lahey's Co. in New York is a pizza restaurant. And it certainly makes fine pies. But when I went there with a friend a couple of years ago, what really blew me away wasn't the pizza, it was the salads. One taste of this combination and I never looked at asparagus the same way again. I've made a few stabs at trying to re-create it, with some luck. But even more lucky: Lahey's new book, "My Pizza," just came out and it includes the recipe.

The window is short for having all the ingredients right at the same time -- asparagus, avocado and mint. But if ever there was a spring when crazy things happened at once, this would be it. If you grow mint, check your mint patch -- mine never really stopped this winter.

Asparagus and Avocado Salad
From "My Pizza," by Jim Lahey (Clarkson Potter, 2012).

4 or 5 thick asparagus spears
1 avocado, halved, pitted and peeled
16 fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/2 lime
About 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of fine sea salt per serving

Cut away about 2 inches of the base of each asparagus spear. Using a sharp vegetable peeler, shave the entire asparagus from bottom to top, reversing your grip and turning the spear as needed to shave as much as possible.
Divide the asparagus shavings among 4 salad plates. Cut each avocado half into 4 sections and place 2 wedges on each plate. Sprinkle with mint leaves. Squeeze lime juice over the salads, drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with salt.

Yield: 4 servings.