JULIE WELLS: Bacon-wrapped asparagus a flexible dish for spring

While on quest for a spring-like recipe, I typed “spring recipes” into Google, and what seemed like a million recipes popped up that had one common green vegetable appearing in them — asparagus.

Asparagus is actually a spring vegetable, which accounts for all of the asparagus recipes. So, I scanned through recipe after recipe, and narrowed it down to today’s featured side dish, bacon-wrapped asparagus.

It was kind of hard to decide between a cooked asparagus recipe, and really going out on a limb and trying a recipe using raw asparagus. I decided to go with a cooked recipe, and one that was bundled up with bacon.

I really like the flexibility of the dish. Although I used both garlic and chili powders, and then added a pinch of light brown sugar, next time I make this entree I may use a lemon pepper powder, or just use an olive oil and lemon juice splash.

And if you’ll notice in the photo, I didn’t wrap bacon around all of the spears; I left some spears unwrapped.

The great idea behind wrapping some up and not wrapping others is the flexibility in serving this side dish to your family, who may or may not like the bacon-wrapped spears. Its like having two side dishes cooked into one. And who couldn’t use more two-for-one dishes in their lives?

Also note that I left the varied cooking times between 20 to 30 minutes. Some folks prefer their spears to have a little crunch to them, and some love a good tender spear.

So, enjoy this spring-like side dish; it is just as welcoming as the warmer weather.

Julie Wells writes the food column The Recipe Box for the Rockdale Citizen.

BACON-WRAPPED

ASPARAGUS

What you need …

1 pound of fresh asparagus

8-10 slices of bacon, slightly precooked

Olive oil

Garlic powder

Chili powder

Light brown sugar

What you do …

Wash, pat dry and trim the asparagus spears.

Lay the asparagus in the bottom of a casserole dish.

Spray or drizzle olive oil over the spears.

Sprinkle desired amounts of garlic powder, chili powder, and the light brown sugar (use just a pinch of brown sugar to balance out sharpness of chili powder) on the asparagus. Using your hands, mix the asparagus and the seasonings to evenly coat.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Wrap a slice of bacon around a bundle of asparagus spears, bundling no more than six or seven at a time, and using a toothpick to hold the asparagus together.

Lay the bundles on a cookie sheet lined with foil that has been coated with non-stick cooking spray.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on desired tenderness of the asparagus.