Asparagus Is the Ultimate Spring Vegetable. Here’s How You Should Be Cooking It

Here’s what I’m planning to make with my asparagus this spring.

You know those dishes that just look and taste like spring? These crunchy little bites of veggie-forward flavor are bursting with freshness and are the perfect party snack. With lashings of ricotta spread onto crunchy sliced baguette, asparagus and peppery radishes are the so-called cherries on top of this little bite of sunshine.

Here’s how to make them in just three easy steps.

There are plenty of people out there who claim that anything is better when fried. They may not be wrong, but I’d like to take that one step further—I believe anything is better when fries. That’s right: While asparagus is perfectly delicious roasted, blanched, or steamed, how could you possibly go wrong with Asparagus Fries?

This vegetable’s snappy spears are perfect candidates to be fries’d (yes, a verb I’ve decided to coin) and come with a whole heap of extra nutritional benefits when compared with your average french fry.

Another great thing about asparagus? It can elevate a weeknight-friendly dish with a bit of veggie glamor. Take this penne pasta recipe that takes less than an hour from stovetop to table and uses nutty seared asparagus and rendered pancetta to introduce big flavors.

To finish off this mouthwatering bowl, top your pasta and vegetables with creamy mascarpone, bright lemon juice, and savory Pecorino Romano. Need I say more?

We’ll be finishing this list off with a heavy-hitter: a pasta primavera dupe that pares down the ingredients list for a simple yet stunningly elegant springtime pasta. This recipe encourages you to slightly overcook zucchini to create a silky-smooth sauce that coats the pasta and its accompanying vegetables.

This is truly a dish that looks almost as good as it tastes, with verdant strands of spaghetti setting the background for an explosion of color from fresh cherry tomatoes and emerald asparagus and peas.