Asparagus: The King of Vegetables

About author / Sarah Christine Bolton

Coffee addict; professional food writer; food fusion. Her slow cooker recipes go above and beyond your normal crockpot fare.

When it comes to just about everything in life, my husband and I are total and complete opposites. He’s a born and bred Southern boy; I’m a West Coast hippie chick. He could live on a steady diet of red meat. I need at least 6 servings of veggies a day. And temperature? Whoever goes to bed last sleeps the best, because that person gets to set the thermostat to the preferred temp.

When we do discover something we have in common (blue is our favorite color, we both love popcorn), it’s like discovering the theory of relativity. It’s a big deal. Early on in our relationship, when we discovered that we both love asparagus, it became a staple vegetable for us. We try to incorporate it into our meals whenever we can.

Recently, I was grocery shopping in a hurry (is there any other way to do it?) and grabbed the first asparagus I set eyes on: a jar of white, pickled asparagus. Like I said, I was in a hurry. Okay, I admit it. It was on sale for a dollar. I’m a sucker for sales.

Asparagus is a very elite vegetable, so getting it for a dollar is actually quite a steal. Based on how expensive it usually is, it must only grow on one moon crater once every 200 years. I wondered how it got its very dignified persona.

It turns out asparagus has a couple legitimate reasons to be snooty. First of all, it is a member of the lily family (and lilies are kind of dignified flowers). Asparagus has also been around for a really long time, not just in the wild, but also as a part of ancient Roman cuisine. Cato described growing instructions for asparagus as early as 200 BC, and Roman rulers from Pliny to Julius Caesar all enjoyed the vegetable at their royal tables.

At different times in history, asparagus was a sign of elegance and wealth, and considered a delicacy. Supposedly, King Louis XIV liked asparagus so much he had a special greenhouse built to grow it all year long. Is there anything that man didn’t do?

I was surprised to find out that my home state of California is the leading state in asparagus production. More than 50,000 metric tons are harvested every year. But California isn’t the only place it’s grown. Asparagus can grow in salty, sandy soils, and it can grow wherever those conditions are, including England, central Wisconsin, Russia, Spain, Syria and Poland.

Asparagus is also cool in that a well cared for plant will produce for up to 15 years! That’s a lot of years of asparagus. It also has lots of folic acid, potassium, fiber, Vitamins B6, A and C, and thiamin. And it has not fat or cholesterol and is low in sodium. No wonder it’s so expensive…it’s like the perfect vegetable.

As delicious as chicken is, you can only eat sautéed chicken breast so many times. I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to dress up chicken. This recipe is different and a great clean-out-your-fridge meal. Basically, I took whatever veggies were left sitting in the bottom of the drawers, chopped them up and threw them in the crockpot with some chicken, asparagus, and cream of mushroom soup.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 4 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• non-stick cooking spray
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 small can green tipped asparagus
• 1 cup sliced carrot
• 2 large potatoes, cubed
• 2 cups cream of mushroom soup
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper