This was a BBQ side dish recipe we used in a local grilling
competition. The main dish was meat and this offered a good complimentary side.
It’s a good way to get some greens on the plate and the asparagus carries the
smoke of the BBQ really well.
Speaking of smoke, if you use a few
smoking chips when you grill, it adds a whole new dimension of flavor.
For the record - we
got first runner up in the competition.
BBQ Grilled Asparagus
Ingredients
1/2 pound of asparagus with tough ends removed
(fresh asparagus preferred but frozen can be
substituted – do not thaw first)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon powdered garlic
Toss all ingredients until asparagus is completely coated.
Place asparagus on pre-heated BBQ grill set to medium-high
heat. Place the asparagus perpendicular to the grill grates in order to get the
classic grill marks.
Grill for about 4 minutes or until grill marks appear. Flip
and grill for 3 minutes on other side.
Asparagus should bend but not be mushy.
For an extra kick, shoot in a couple of drops of your
favorite hot sauce while tossing. It dries on the asparagus and gives a
surprise bite.
They say everything’s better with
bacon. An easy variation on this dish is to wrap the asparagus spears with
pre-cooked but flexible bacon and secure both ends with soaked toothpicks. You
have to pre-cook the bacon to a soft level otherwise it would take too long to
cook and your asparagus would be overcooked. Plus, a whole lot more bacon fat
would drop down into your grill causing flare ups.
This is such a good solid, basic way to fix asparagus, it
made its way into a Twitter
recipe.
