Brined Grilled Asparagus with Preserved Lemon Aïoli
By Sasha MarxPublished on April 23, 2017
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
This is a perfect side dish for times when you’re firing up the grill for other items on your dinner menu. Asparagus is great when served warm or even at room temperature, so if you’re going to be grilling other items as well, we recommend cooking this asparagus first. You can use traditional homemade or store-bought preserved lemons for this recipe or make our Quick Preserved Lemons. This recipe contains raw or undercooked eggs, which comes with inherent risks. To learn more about food safety, check out this guide.
Instructions
- Using fork, poke holes up and down asparagus spears, about 20 holes per spear. Dissolve salt in 4 cups water in large bowl. Add asparagus to brine and weigh down with plate to keep submerged. Let sit at room temperature for at least 45 minutes or up to 1 hour. Transfer asparagus to paper towel–lined plate and pat dry. Discard brine.
- Meanwhile, process preserved lemon, egg yolks, 1 tablespoon water, and garlic in blender on high speed until well combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of blender jar with rubber spatula. With blender running on low speed, slowly drizzle in oil until emulsified and thickened, about 45 seconds. With blender still on low speed, drizzle in lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons water. Transfer aïoli to small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use.
- For a Charcoal Grill: Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts [4½ pounds]). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.For a Gas Grill: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Place asparagus on grill (directly over coals if using charcoal) and cook, turning occasionally, until spears are charred on all sides and just beginning to soften on exteriors, 2 to 4 minutes. (Overcooked asparagus is an all-too-common sight at summer barbecues. A properly cooked asparagus spear should just begin to bend under its own weight when held horizontally. If it flops, so have you, because you’ve overcooked it.)
- Transfer asparagus to serving dish and sprinkle with almonds. Serve, passing preserved lemon aïoli separately.
Yield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Whether you’re preparing a full-on vegetarian feast or just grilling up some of your farmers’ market bounty as a side dish, it pays to treat vegetables with as much care and attention as you do meat. Want a perfectly seasoned grilled pork chop? Brine it. Want perfectly seasoned asparagus spears? That’s right, brine ’em. Uniform seasoning can be tricky with vegetables such as asparagus because they have a Teflon-like nonstick coating when it comes to salt. It just bounces right off, even if your Salt Bae sprinkle game is on point. A coating of oil can help salt stick, but you’re still left with a salty shell around a bland interior. That’s where brining comes in. For this recipe, we brine asparagus in much the same way as you might brine a chicken breast—we lightly prick the spears with a fork to create gaps in the their waxy exteriors before submerging them in an 8 percent salt solution for 45 minutes. The asparagus gets a bath, and you get deeply seasoned spears, ready for the grill. We serve them with a bright preserved lemon aïoli (don’t have preserved lemons on hand? We got you.) and a scattering of toasted almonds (to keep your sprinkle game tight), but you can also eat them straight off the grill with your hands.
Photography by Steve Klise
Before You Begin
This is a perfect side dish for times when you’re firing up the grill for other items on your dinner menu. Asparagus is great when served warm or even at room temperature, so if you’re going to be grilling other items as well, we recommend cooking this asparagus first. You can use traditional homemade or store-bought preserved lemons for this recipe or make our Quick Preserved Lemons. This recipe contains raw or undercooked eggs, which comes with inherent risks. To learn more about food safety, check out this guide.
Instructions
- Using fork, poke holes up and down asparagus spears, about 20 holes per spear. Dissolve salt in 4 cups water in large bowl. Add asparagus to brine and weigh down with plate to keep submerged. Let sit at room temperature for at least 45 minutes or up to 1 hour. Transfer asparagus to paper towel–lined plate and pat dry. Discard brine.
- Meanwhile, process preserved lemon, egg yolks, 1 tablespoon water, and garlic in blender on high speed until well combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of blender jar with rubber spatula. With blender running on low speed, slowly drizzle in oil until emulsified and thickened, about 45 seconds. With blender still on low speed, drizzle in lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons water. Transfer aïoli to small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use.
- For a Charcoal Grill: Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts [4½ pounds]). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.For a Gas Grill: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Place asparagus on grill (directly over coals if using charcoal) and cook, turning occasionally, until spears are charred on all sides and just beginning to soften on exteriors, 2 to 4 minutes. (Overcooked asparagus is an all-too-common sight at summer barbecues. A properly cooked asparagus spear should just begin to bend under its own weight when held horizontally. If it flops, so have you, because you’ve overcooked it.)
- Transfer asparagus to serving dish and sprinkle with almonds. Serve, passing preserved lemon aïoli separately.
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