It’s Friday again, and spring is trying hard to push its way through the winter that is not ready to step back. Yet, I think, we have seen just a little more vegetables that actually have taste in the stores. Here, in New York, it’s not a given.

When I was in school, living in the now infamous city of Donetsk, I remember one letter that my grandmother had from her niece, my aunt, who used to live in the historic caucasian town of Derbent. My aunt wrote, “I miss Derbent’s tomatoes so much!”. I remember thinking “Really, come on! You have strawberries at 6 am every day! Surely, when you have everything, you become strange”. Now, I understand my aunt, Liza bat Dorah, may she have a refuah shelemah. I also miss those tomatoes! It seems that any vegetable tasted better there, possibly because there was no industrial fertilization with chemicals.

In any case, back to the asparagus, I bought the other day at Trader Joe’s, my favorite store. It was cheap and fresh. What else do I need?

So today, I decided to roast it, of course.

I took:

1 bunch asparagus

2 garlic cloves

Half of a red onion

A box of baby bella mushrooms that I sliced. This can be totally omitted.

Spices that I like: salt, black pepper (freshly ground only, please), dried basil, dried oregano, turmeric (never live without it), paprika both strong and sweet and za’atar.

I mixed together the spices with leftover nasharap that I had to use before Pesach anyway, a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

I just coated the asparagus and mushrooms with my hands in the sauce and roasted them at 410F for about 25 minutes.

Easy! But… one thing to remember is to trip asparagus ends and cut off most of the “corns” off it. I also had to really look it through and wash multiple times to make sure no bugs will be found. I also added a bit of chopped parsely, which needs to be very carefully washed as well.

The rest is quick and easy, though.

Enjoy!

Shabbat Shalom!