Before I moved to Vancouver I lived and worked in the Yakima valley, specifically Sunnyside, Washington. If you ever bring up that city around my grandfather (I don’t know why you would) he will tell you how it’s the asparagus capital of the country and how there’s so much of it out there that it grows in the ditches. If you know my grandfather, you know that he likes to tell stories, so the ditch thing may be a bit of an exaggeration. That being said, there’s a lot of asparagus out there. He also will only eat asparagus if he can dip it in mayonnaise, which may seem strange to most people, and apparently I’m strange for not thinking that it’s strange. Well, here’s an asparagus recipe that hopefully needs no mayonnaise, the BBQ Asparagus needs a little bit of smoke, and a lot of barbecue sauce.
Full disclosure…I used to really hate asparagus. It was right up there with tomatoes as a part of the produce section I avoided. Maybe it was the taste, or maybe it was how it made my pee smell bad, either way I would not touch the stuff. Then I had bacon wrapped asparagus and I realized maybe it’s not so bad. Since that moment I’ve been testing out different variations of the vegetable, and this recipe was a suggestion from the makers of Mr Brown’s Barbecue Sauce (found in New Seasons in the Portland/Vancouver area with other stores soon to come).
How to Make BBQ Asparagus
Vegetables on the smoker are just so dang simple! Start by cutting The stems off the asparagus. This part of the asparagus, especially if not fully cooked, can get quite tough and woody and generally be a poor eating experience.
Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the asparagus. Then pour barbecue sauce over followed by Parmesan cheese. Start the smoker and bring the temperature to 325 degrees. Place the asparagus on the smoker and cook for 30 minutes. You’ll want to give the asparagus a bit of a stir about halfway through the cook. If you, like me, like your asparagus a bit on the softer side I would go up to 45 minutes, however 30 minutes resulted in a nice crispy bite.
Remove from the smoker once they are cooked to your liking. You may want to finish with some additional parmesan here, I didn’t when I made the recipe but then the thought of it as I was in the middle of the meal.
Tips
- To to find the best spot to remove the base of the asparagus, grab the asparagus in the middle and at the base with each hand and bend until it breaks, discard the base after it breaks off.
- If if time is no issue, marinate the asparagus in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar over night
- Use a foil lined porcelain grill pan for easy clean up
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus stems trimmed
- 1/4 cup Mr Brown's BBQ Lemon Honey Pepper BBQ Sauce
- drizzle olive oil
- drizzle balsamic vinegar
- Parmesan cheese to taste
Instructions
- Start smoker per manufacturer's guidelines and set temperature to 325 degrees
- Remove stems from asparagus
- Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over asparagus
- Top with BBQ then sprinkle Parmesan cheese over
- Place on grill pan
- One smoker has reached 325 degrees place asparagus on and smoke 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes
- Once the asparagus has cooked to your liking remove from smoker
- Top with more Parmesan cheese before serving (optional)
