Hooray For Asparagus

I get the best supplement questions from my mother.  She is forever on the hunt for the supplement to end all supplementation.  The emails are always entertaining and keep me on my toes.   Before I go into this weekend's e:discussion on the wonders of asparagus, let me explain the need for the ultimate supplement.    

You see my mother is a closet smoker.  Well, maybe not so closet, but not really out there either.  This leads to some wild predicaments.  My favorite is the day when we went out to lunch.  We arrived at the restaurant and I went to lock the car and my mother stopped me, "Hold on. I need something."   She flipped back the thick blanket on the backseat and BEHOLD.... chocolate bars the size of Ouji boards and cartons upon cartons of cigarettes.  I stared.  "Uh, hey Mom.... what else do you have stashed back here.... black market babies?  Cocaine?  Wow."  She breezily answered, "Just the essentials.  You know... chocolate, cigarettes, duct tape."  And off we went.  I don't remember that lunch other than envisioning my mother taping herself into her car while it filled with smoke,  a civil defense siren blaring, and her happily taking on one of the giant chocolate bars.    So, we are on the hunt for the right supplement to add to the emergency kit in the car.  Egads.  But... we meet people where they are and I will not judge.   She has made amazing changes in other areas so that we'll celebrate.  

But back to asparagus.   I got an email last night.  The first part read: 

THE ARTICLE:

 Several years ago, I had a man seeking asparagus for a

 friend who had cancer.He gave me a photocopied copy of an

 article, entitled, `Asparagus for cancer' printed

 in Cancer News Journal, December 1979.

Case reports followed describing various purees of asparagus and miracle cures for cancer.  

I could have jumped for joy.  Nooooo - not because I think an asparagus patch should be planted underneath the magic blanket in my mom's car but because eating asparagus in spring is such a fantastic thing.  Last night Ken and I were having friends for dinner featuring grilled salmon and grilled asparagus and other essential vegetables.  Little did we know our guests were crazy for the stuff.  The grilling of asparagus promptly became their project with much arm waving and various tongs tried to find the perfect asparagus flipping utensil.  

Asparagus is in season in Washington in spring.  It grows in the vineyards along with some of the best grapes in the world.  Asparagus is very high in glutathione and a host of other amazing nutrients.  What I love most is that is signals spring.  It is THE vegetable that tells the body that winter is ending, a natural spring cleaning for the body and for the soul.  There is nothing, and I mean nothing, as wonderful as asparagus rubbed just a little with olive oil, kissed with salt and grilled for 6-8 minutes.   Serve with white wine if you like, dipping sauce if you must, my husband's family famous mustard salmon, and it is a perfect dinner.   One of the guests at our table last night is an Ironman.  Yup - scary fit.  It delights me that asparagus delights her and my mother at the same time.   The ultimate supplement?  Maybe.  The ultimate spring vegetable?  Absolutely.   Hooray for asparagus!