Spring Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Spring Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce

This Asparagus dish is perfect for all your Spring meals. It is the perfect side dish to any protein and goes great with a brunch of Eggs Benedict or Omelettes. Spring Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce 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.

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. I will link it HERE. Use it for lots of things like making salad dressings, sauces, and for baking. Much more affordable then buying (and wasting) liquid buttermilk every time a recipe calls for it. Here is a link to an article about why you need to use it.

Lastly, this 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 it is delicious on this dish, on salads, fish, proteins and other veggies. Furthermore, it is delicious on a baked potato or your fried fish sticks!

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 it makes the asparagus more delicious. Equally important, 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

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Spring Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Print

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.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

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

1. 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.
2. Cut the asparagus into bite sized pieces, I cut it on a diagonal into about 1 inch pieces.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Slice the other half of the lemon and place the slices on the asparagus before serving.
7. Serve the asparagus with the sauce on the side, or drizzle on the asparagus right before serving.

Deviled Eggs

Additionally, if you would like another delicious Spring Brunch Recipe, make my famous Deviled Eggs. The recipe is LINKED HERE.

More Brunch Goodness

I also have a lovely recipe for a make ahead whipped cream and blueberries to perfect your French toast.