Spring Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce
A Light and Seasonal Delight
This Spring Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce is the perfect way to signal the end of winter and the delicious vernal meals to come. That’s just a fancy word for “spring,” by the way.
It is the perfect side dish to any protein and goes great with a brunch of Eggs Benedict or Omelettes. This dish is a simple sautéed asparagus with butter, salt and pepper.
The Creamy Mustard Sauce is made with Buttermilk Powder, Mustard and Mayo plus some seasoning and herbs.
It might seem simple but it tastes so delicious and fresh.
What Is Buttermilk Powder?
if you haven’t used or even heard of buttermilk powder, you are missing out.
It is usually hidden in plain sight at the grocery store in the baking aisle near the powdered milks. You can get this big, 1 pound tub on Amazon for like fifteen dollars.
You can use it for lots of things like making salad dressings, sauces, and for baking. It’s much more affordable then buying (and wasting) liquid buttermilk every time a recipe calls for it. Here is a link to an article on buttermilk powder about why you need to use it.
It makes a delicious and creamy sauce that is perfect to serve on, or on the side of, this simple asparagus dish.
Additionally, the beauty of this sauce is that in addition to this dish it’s delicious on salads, fish, proteins, and other veggies.
And that’s not all!
It’s amazing on a baked potato or your fried fish sticks!
You should make extra sauce and just put it on everything you can to run some tasty experiments.
Making The Asparagus Tender
In the full, printable recipe below I talk about snapping and peeling the asparagus. These are two simple steps that make the asparagus more tender.
Of course some will say you do not have to do either of these things and if you are confused or not comfortable, skip this step. I truly believe, however, that it makes the asparagus more delicious.
It will seem like you are wasting some of the asparagus, but usually the part that “snaps” off is a woody part that doesn’t taste good.
To Snap
- Wash and pat dry your asparagus.
- Pick up each asparagus spear individually and bend it in half.
- Naturally the asparagus will snap on its own, leaving the good firm part and removing the woody, chewy parts.
To Peel
- Use a sharp veggie peeler and run it one time along the stem of the asparagus spear where you can see those bumpy , purplish bumps along the stem and towards the bottom. (see pic above)
- Don’t peel off too much, just smooth it out. Save the scraps and freeze them to make vegetable broth.
- See how the asparagus is cleaned and trimmed below.
Full, Printable and Pinterest Save-able Recipe
Spring Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce
Sautéed asparagus with a creamy mustard sauce made with mustard, buttermilk powder, lemon, chives, black pepper and lemons. This is a great side dish to go with all you Spring meals. Light, delicious and flavorful.
Ingredients
- 2 bunches of Asparagus (approximately 2 lbs)
- 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 small bunch of chives (when sliced about 1/4 cup)
- 1.5 cups of mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon of grainy mustard or more to taste
- 3 tablespoons of Buttermilk powder (where to buy linked in blog) + 1/4 cup of water *directions below if using liquid buttermilk
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Dried Dill
- *if using liquid buttermilk instead of the buttermilk powder, use 1/4 cup of the buttermilk, plus 1 teaspoon of white vinegar
Instructions
- To prep the asparagus, wash it and pat it dry, then I bend each asparagus spear so that it naturally breaks where the stem is woody. Then I use a vegetable peeler to peel the stem where the bumpy parts are. If this step is confusing, just trim the non flower end and skip the peeling part. Peeling and snapping the asparagus makes it less woody and more tender.
- Cut the asparagus into bite sized pieces, I cut it on a diagonal into about 1 inch pieces.
- Add the butter to a skillet and add the asparagus, sauté for about 15 minutes, it should have some golden brown to color to it when it is done and be tender yet crisp to the bite. Season with salt and black pepper.
- For the sauce, add the mayo, buttermilk powder and water, mustard to a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Add the mustard. Taste and more mustard if you like it more tangy. Add the juice from half the lemon. Add the chives. Stir and taste.
- Add about 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, onion powder, and dried dill, mix well and taste, add more if you prefer, add some black pepper and taste, zest in some of the lemon rind if you like. Mix, taste and adjust seasonings. You can serve this right away but I think it is best when it sits overnight. This dressing can also be used on fish, chicken or salad.
- Slice the other half of the lemon and place the slices on the asparagus before serving.
- Serve the asparagus with the sauce on the side, or drizzle on the asparagus right before serving.
Deviled Eggs
For another delicious Spring Brunch Recipe, make my famous Deviled Eggs.
More Brunch Goodness
If you want a sweet option for your brunch, I also have a lovely recipe for a make ahead whipped cream and blueberries to perfect your French toast.