A recipe to get in before that fresh spring asparagus is only a memory...

Fresh asparagus is still going strong and so far the bundles we have gotten from the market have been excellent! Tonight's dinner, Chicken-Sausage and Asparagus Sauté over Cheese Grits, is a recipe for two servings, however you could easily scale it up (or down) if you need more servings or if you would just like a plate for yourself.

There are many different varieties of cooked chicken sausages to choose from these days - for tonight's dish, we used a spicy version that we picked up from Costco a few weeks ago. To give the sausages a deeper flavor, we first sliced them into thin ovals and then caramelized them in a thin layer of olive oil. Because we want some of that developed flavor left behind, we scooped out the sausages with a slotted spoon and used the remaining oil and any drippings to soften a bit of red onion. Jeff is more akin to like the dish if the onions are chopped, but if the texture of sliced onion is not an issue for you, halve and thinly slice the onion instead.

To the onions, sliced asparagus, flavorful fresh thyme and a little water are added to gently steam the asparagus just until it is crisp-tender. To brighten up the flavor, fresh lemon juice is stirred in, followed by the chicken sausage to warm back up. While we were waiting for the asparagus, we also had a pot of broth on the stove coming up to a boil. Grits were soon drizzled into the bubbling broth and the grains quickly swelled and thickened within just a few minutes. For a creamy, tangy finish, we stirred in fresh crumbled goat cheese just as we removed the grits from the heat. Served by spooning the generous veggie and sausage mixture on top of the pool of grits, this dinner, done in just about 20 minutes, kept our forks quite busy until our plates were quickly cleaned!

Recipes
Chicken-Sausage and Asparagus Sauté over Cheese Grits