Linguine with Asparagus, Garlic, and Lemon

Halfway through typing up this recipe, I became aware of its resemblance to a certain something else that I’d made recently.  There’s pasta involved, along with asparagus.  And some parmesan cheese.  So I was actually thinking about not sharing it with you all; I don’t want you to think I’m one-note.  But then today, I ate the leftovers for lunch and remembered how good this was.  How light and summery and lovely.  And the awesome thing about it is that tastes just as good, if not better, the next day.  Even cold, from the tupperware. So, really, it’s win-win. 

 
And really, don’t we all find ourselves playing the variations-on-a-theme game in the kitchen at some point?  Sometimes you just get excited about a kitchen discovery and think, “What else would this work for?”  It may get a little tedious for people on the outside (sorry), but I think that one of the greatest things about cooking is getting something exactly the way you like it, then seeing how else you can make it work.  So yes, I did have an “aha!” moment when I threw my raw asparagus in with the cooking pasta for the first time, and yes, I am going to try this for pretty much any pasta dish I make that involves veggies.  It just makes sense.  Besides the fact that it saves me from dirtying another pot, and therefore from cleaning another pot. 

Egg-Topped Soba Noodles with Asparagus and Prosciutto

Be honest.  Aren’t there things you wait to do until your significant other leaves the house?  Re-arrange the dishwasher so that the plates face the right way?  Watch Real Housewives of New York?  Feed the dog pieces of bacon because he loves them so much?  As much as I love being with my hubby, and I really don’t like it when he has to be somewhere else, there are certain things that just don’t happen when he’s here.  Granted, he’s pretty much the most tolerant person ever, so there aren’t many.

However, there is just this one little thing that he won’t have in his presence.  Eggs for dinner.  No poached with toast, no scrambled with sausage, no fried on top of anything.  No. Eggs. For. Dinner.  Which is fine, I get it, but we have this one little problem: I would put an egg on top of anything and call it a meal.   I haven’t always been this way, and I couldn’t tell you when it started.  Maybe college?  Maybe when I lived on my own after college?  I don’t know.  It doesn’t matter.  All that matters is that now I’m addicted and I can’t stop.  I try to rein it in most of the time, but when the cat’s away the mice will play… with eggs. 

Shaved Asparagus with Parmesan Vinaigrette

As it turns out, last week, while I was whining about making potatoes instead of pretty little spring asparagus, I should have just been at the store buying some pretty little spring asparagus. Because last week they were front and center in the produce department, but when I went yesterday, they were nowhere to be found.  The horror!  Had I really missed asparagus season after all my excitement about spring vegetables?