Asparagus–You either love it or you hate it.

I love it. Fat asparagus and skinny asparagus; fresh, crunchy, green asparagus; delicate white asparagus or gorgeous purple asparagus–it doesn’t matter–during the spring growing season, asparagus is a staple in this household.

One of the best things about asparagus is that it coincides with warmer weather… and warmer weather means grilling season! Using the grill to cook dinner is one of my favorite things. It’s quick, easy and requires no cleanup. So, when I can grill delicious, fresh veggies in a flash, I’m sold.

Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables to grill. It’s firm and holds up well to the high heat. Most of the time, I simply just drizzle it with olive oil, a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper and cook it until just done (still very crunchy). If you want to jazz it up a bit, you can also whip up an easy sauce to top it off. One of my favorites is a quick sour cream sauce I make for my Grilled Purple Asparagus with Dill Sauce.

If you don’t have a grill, no worries; this recipe would work very well with sautéed or broiled asparagus as well.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time trying to find new and interesting ideas on how to cook it. However, I even love raw asparagus. Raw you ask? Yes–raw. And no, I don’t mean on a crudités plate, served with some type of fancy-schmancy dip to mask the taste. I mean raw–as in the main ingredient of a dish.

A family favorite we tripped upon a while back is this Raw “Cream” of Asparagus Soup. This dish is especially great on summer nights when it’s just too hot to stand in front of the grill or stovetop. Plus, the taste is amazing and it’s easy and fast! The “cream” consists of raw cashews and coconut water (not milk).

Raw may sound a bit daunting at first, but I highly encourage you to give it a try. Literally, all you do is throw the ingredients into a blender and voila! To keep things simple, yet interesting, I even topped my soup with a fresh nasturtium from my garden.

Asparagus is versatile, tasty and abundant right now. It’s one of those vegetables that goes well with many things, it cooks quickly and tastes delicious both hot and cold. What more could you ask for?

In her professional life, Tammy Schuetz Cook does contract technical writing, project management, and social media in the marketing and software world. In her free time, she writes the blog Boston Food and Whine, sharing restaurant and product reviews, recipes, food photos, kid-friendly ideas, and anything and everything having to do with food. She resides in Boston with her husband, 5-year-old son, three dogs, and one cat.