I know that this may make me sound a bit unstable, but...good land, did I have a nice day! I love the ladies' locker room at the YMCA. It's filled with all these gossipy old gals that sometimes tell you things that you don't want to know, like the one about the facility's hot tub, for example. But today there was no stomach-turning news, just a nice lady with a big brown grocery bag of lemons off her tree. I know, enough with the lemons, but I just had to tell you that all's right with the world before moving on to what you should make for dinner.
So just push those clothes aside and sit down (I'm sorry about the photo). For dinner tonight we have fried tofu, spicy braised potatoes, and asparagus, but let's just talk about the asparagus. When I bought it the other day, I was worried. It didn't look like much, and it seemed awfully early in the season, but I needn't have feared. Drizzled with a bit of sesame oil and a pinch of sea salt, roasted in a pretty hot oven (say 400) until just beginning to shrivel (say 8 minutes, but these were quite skinny), and then tossed with a few quick dashes of rice vinegar, they were perfect. Or if you'd prefer, toss them with olive oil and finish with a big old squeeze of lemon. Man, I love a change in seasons - asparagus AND meyer lemons. It is a magical time in Los Angeles.
