Sunflower Asparagus Tapenade with Homemade Bread

 

When we visited Germany a couple of years ago, we quickly learned the German word for asparagus is spargel. While we were there, it was asparagus season, and the word spargel was written in swirly letters on the chalkboard menus in front of every restaurant and cafe in southern Germany. Spargel soup, roasted spargel, spargel on toast- you name it, and they made it with asaparagus. The green and often white, herbaceous plant was the plate of the day in nearly every eatery we passed, highlighting the European predilection for serving regional ingredients. A hint of the Spargelsaison to come has hit our own local markets, and I couldn't help but be reminded of our trip to Germany and all of the inventive, asparagus-based dishes we consumed that week.

This recipe for Asparagus Tapenade was inspired by a similar one I found in a recent copy of Taste of Home, but of course, I adapted it and made it my own by adding tomatoes to give it a bit of piquancy and agave to add a hint of sweetness. And, considering we were having company over, I couldn't possibly serve Asparagus Tapenade on store bought crackers! So, I got out the bread machine and baked some homemade sweet bread.

If asparagus is one of those vegetables you tend to shy away from due to bad childhood memories (canned asparagus, anyone? no thanks!), pick up some fresh asparagus at your local market. Cook it just enough so that it is tender yet still crisp, and I think the flavor might surprise you. As Spargelsaison gets under way and those farmer's markets start popping up around you, give a new asparagus dish a try. I doubt it will disappoint.

 

Asparagus Tapenade Ingredients
3/4 lbs fresh Asparagus, cleaned and chopped
1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds (Pine seeds would work, too, but I had sunflower seeds on hand)
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp Agave
pinch of Salt and Pepper

Asparagus Tapenade Directions
Boil asparagus in water for 3 minutes just to soften. Immediately drain and place in ice water. Drain again and place the  asparagus and all other ingredients into the food processor and pulse for 1 to 2 minutes or until you reach the desired consistency. Serve at room temperature or chilled with fresh bread.

 

In my opinion, bread machines are great. I used to make fresh bread the long way, but with 2 kids those days are over. Having a good quality bread machine allows you to serve your family hot, fresh bread in a matter of 3 hours (with only 5 minutes of work!) It's basically fool proof and if your machine has a timer setting, you can time it so your bread is done baking just as you are wake up in the morning- There is nothing better than waking up to the smell of homemade bread! For this loaf, I used a sweet bread recipe and omitted the raisins.

Sweet Bread Ingredients
1 Egg, room temperature plus enough water to equal 3/4 cup
4 tsp Oil
4 tsp Sugar (I used agave)
2 1/4 cups Bread Flour (I use King Arthur)
1 1/2 tsp RED STAR Active Dry Yeast

Sweet Bread Directions
Layer all of the ingredients above in order in the bread machine. Select 1.0 lb loaf size and press start. And that's it! 3 hours later you will have hot, fresh bread. I love my bread machine :)

Ed's Verdict: Ed by default does not like tapenades because they remind him of olive tapenade, and he really does not like olives. Yes, I do believe our food preferences are 90% psychological. But he loved the bread, and would eat the whole loaf in about 5 minutes if I would let him. (What does that tell us about his psyche?) Next time I would like to try this tapenade with pine nuts instead of sunflower seeds, because I think the sunflower seeds made it slightly too salty. Either that or I should get the unsalted seeds, but I just used what I had on hand. Over all it came out pretty good. I think this recipe is a keeper.