Asparagus

They are the two botanical wonders of springtime: the delectable pine-cone- shaped artichoke and the sleek, elegant asparagus. They're regal, exotic and tempting, and viewed by many - and rightly so - as the aristocrats of the vegetable kingdom. It only heightens the wonder to know that, botanically speaking, the artichoke is a member of the thistle family. The asparagus is a member of the lily family. This includes not only onions, garlic and leeks, but tulips and hyacinths as well.

Asparagus and red potatoes are particularly complementary salad partners. In this composition the asparagus is peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces and then blanched quickly. The potatoes, left unpeeled, are boiled and cut into wedges. The vegetables are then coated with a warm mustard dressing (a simple concoction of balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and olive oil) and served on a bed of alternating Boston lettuce and radicchio leaves. A generous sprinkling of fresh herbs adds both flavor and color to the dish.

This classic pairing of asparagus and poached egg is such a lovely weeknight dinner, especially as a herald to spring. It's not something I would make on a weeknight for the kids, I will confess, too challenging to poach all those eggs. But it is perfect supper for one or two. Though it is a few steps, the results are well worth the effort. This recipe, from Jane Hornby's newest offering, Fresh & Easy: What to Cook & How to Cook It, adds a sauce of balsamic vinegar and butter to the asparagus, for a spot-on finishing touch.

Asparagus asks to be sauced. Its slender spears appear embarrassingly naked without a cloak of hollandaise or a vinaigrette dressing. Its flavor seems too overt before a buffer of beurre blanc or a touch of citrus tempers it. Whether pencil-thin or tree-trunk thick, asparagus is never finished until it is finished with a sauce, even if the sauce is something as simple as a smear of butter. Fortunately, many sauces that complement asparagus are as quick and simple to prepare as the vegetable itself.

Out in the country, the banter of buyers bidding for asparagus at the Swedesboro Auction usually heralds the approach of the hot hazy days of summer. But as the auction's 50th season opened yesterday, summer seemed to have beaten the farmers to market. And that meant trouble. While the temperature increased in recent days, so did the asparagus harvest, said John Lee Womack, manager of the Swedesboro Auction. Area growers lugged 355 crates crammed with the succulent spears to market yesterday - more than five times the amount sold on opening day last year.

For the pickled mushrooms: 2 quart containers of honshimeji mushrooms; a mix of brown and white is preferred 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 head of garlic, top trimmed 3 branches thyme 1 tablespoon coriander, crushed 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 quart mushroom or vegetable stock (store-bought stock is fine) 1/4 cup sherry vinegar For the onion puree: 2 large onions, peeled, diced fine 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup milk To finish: 1 bunch pencil asparagus, cut into one-inch pieces 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons shallots, chopped 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon or chives 1. Quickly blanch the mushrooms in boiling, salted water for a minute.

At 6:15 a.m. on a damp, foggy Thursday, a truck loaded with a dozen migrant farm workers leaves a labor camp at Conte Farms in Tabernacle en route to an asparagus field several miles away. With top-40 music pounding from the radio, the truck stops beside an irrigation ditch and parks; workers, their asparagus cutters and wooden baskets in hand, disperse. Each concentrates on one row of the field, where succulent green spears rise seven inches from sandy soil in neat rows. "Too many flowers on this one," said Charles Cosme, 22, a native of Ciarles, Puerto Rico, as he stabbed a forked, stainless steel cutter into the soil two inches below a spear.

Forget the date, the equinox, temperatures - spring is finally here. Need proof? "We picked the first rhubarb today and it looks really good this year," David Hodge said with evident pleasure last week. That first crisp, crimson rhubarb - and the snappy green stems of asparagus that were ready for harvesting just a few days later - marked the true start of spring for farms such as the Hodges' family-run Highland Orchards in West Chester. Yes, we can have asparagus (imported)

By the stalk or the bundle, fresh domestic asparagus is too good to pass up when it's in season, generally from March through early June, depending on the weather and location. There's no better time to eat your fill of tender, succulent spears than when the domestic harvest is in. In peak season, when the supply is good and prices are low, treat yourself to a pound or two of plump, tender young spears surrounded by classic accompaniments: lemon wedges, butter, Hollandaise, vinaigrette, salt, and freshly ground pepper.

At the cusp of each new season, I'm so happy to shift cooking gears that I tend to get carried away. Fresh asparagus? Let's have it for every dinner. Berries in all their glory? Breakfast and dessert each day. At some point I'll tire of these flavors, too, but for now, I want to indulge in the sheer relief that color - green! red! blue! - brings to the table. With Mother's Day this weekend and all those bridal and baby showers that pop up in the spring, I have entertaining on my mind.

For the pickled mushrooms: 2 quart containers of honshimeji mushrooms; a mix of brown and white is preferred 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 head of garlic, top trimmed 3 branches thyme 1 tablespoon coriander, crushed 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 quart mushroom or vegetable stock (store-bought stock is fine) 1/4 cup sherry vinegar For the onion puree: 2 large onions, peeled, diced fine 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup milk To finish: 1 bunch pencil asparagus, cut into one-inch pieces 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons shallots, chopped 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon or chives 1. Quickly blanch the mushrooms in boiling, salted water for a minute.

This classic pairing of asparagus and poached egg is such a lovely weeknight dinner, especially as a herald to spring. It's not something I would make on a weeknight for the kids, I will confess, too challenging to poach all those eggs. But it is perfect supper for one or two. Though it is a few steps, the results are well worth the effort. This recipe, from Jane Hornby's newest offering, Fresh & Easy: What to Cook & How to Cook It, adds a sauce of balsamic vinegar and butter to the asparagus, for a spot-on finishing touch.

The world recently passed one significant date, and it's headed for another. No, I don't mean Yom Kippur or Thanksgiving. Sept. 27 was Earth Overshoot Day, designated by the Global Footprint Network as the time when the planet's humans surpassed "nature's budget" for the year. Since then, we've been exceeding the resources the Earth can generate, says the network, a nonprofit research group based in California. At the rate we're going, we need as much as 1.5 Earths to sustain us, the group says.

At the cusp of each new season, I'm so happy to shift cooking gears that I tend to get carried away. Fresh asparagus? Let's have it for every dinner. Berries in all their glory? Breakfast and dessert each day. At some point I'll tire of these flavors, too, but for now, I want to indulge in the sheer relief that color - green! red! blue! - brings to the table. With Mother's Day this weekend and all those bridal and baby showers that pop up in the spring, I have entertaining on my mind.

Vegan Blueberry Muffins . . . 2 Muesli Bars . . . 2 Taco Roll-Ups . . . 2 Fettuccini With Parmesan, Chicken, and Asparagus . . . 3

Salmon, asparagus, peas, and rice are combined for this light and lovely summer pilaf. It is even simpler if you are starting with leftover rice and salmon. (Just warm them in the microwave and proceed with the recipe.) If not, get the rice cooking while you are preparing the other ingredients.   Spring Pilaf with Salmon and Asparagus 1. Bring water to a boil in a large skillet; add salmon (skin side up) return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

A certain magical quality attends the white asparagus grown - by way of contrast? - at the edge of the Black Forest. It comes to harvest this time of year - Spargelzeit , in German - touching off the sort of seasonal swoon associated with our own spring morels and favas, wild ramps, and reviving stands of red rhubarb. But it's far deeper than that, really: German expats here call home to get updates on the flavor of the current vintage. (This year it's said to be a bit more "intense.

From the riverbank at Penn Treaty Park beneath I-95 one day last week you could contemplate the Delaware's ritual of indecision - the day's estuarial tide pushing back, stymieing the natural inclination of the current. Early April is like that; an in-between season, downpours at the ready, chill in the night, then days in the 80s, sunny as daffodils, which appear to be on their way out, the azaleas stepping up. At the Fair Food Farmstand in the Reading Terminal Market, the people come and go, speaking of local asparagus.

After dispensing with a few last-minute provisioning questions - where to source the "sky-facing peppers" that heat up Hong Kong's street food; how to get a customized slip tucked into the fortune cookies - the restaurant called Kong opened with a bang last week, strings of firecrackers dancing on the sidewalk on Second Street at Fairmount Avenue. It is said to be an interpretation of the dai pai dongs , open-air food stalls once ubiquitous (now few and far between) on the crowded outdoor shopping streets of Hong Kong.

Not that you need an excuse to eat more watermelon, but it does have 40 percent more of the antioxidant lycopene than tomatoes. Plus, according to the USDA, watermelon is fat-free and a good source of vitamins A, B6, C and thiamin. But picking a ripe melon can be tricky. If only you could taste it before buying. "I love watermelon, and I taste away when I'm shopping for it," says Jimmy Iovine of Iovine Brothers Produce in the Reading Terminal Market. He's been selling watermelons from Florida and Georgia lately, but the Jersey crop should be in this week, he says.