Spring is here! The sun is shining! And my favorite spring vegetable is finally here – asparagus!! I was so inspired by the abundance of asparagus at the market (and William Shakespeare) that I wrote this poem. I sure do hope you like it:

Asparagus, asparagus, oh how I love thee
I am so excited for our spring filled with glee
We will take take day trips on the train
And walks in the spring rain
No, that’s a bad idea, you will get all soggy.

Instead, I shall chop you, and roast you, and mix you with thyme
I will puree you till you truly shine.
I will recommend to all that they top you with sun dried tomatoes
Because they make a nice garnish.

OK, fine. I’ll stick to making soup. FINE!

When I was a little girl, I won this contest and got to visit the most magical place on earth – Willy Wonka’s Chickpea Factory (located a bit behind and to the left of the chocolate factory which is SO overrated!). Willy Wonka himself was a bit weird. He only hung out with the factory workers – the garbanzos – who sang this irritating song – “chickpeas, chickpeas, chickpeas are grand, we like to eat them whenever we can.” Whatever. So we toured the whole factory and saw chickpeas morph into all kinds of things like hummus, spreads, soups, and so much more!! In the soup room, I saw this recipe lying on the ground and I couldn’t resist. Chickpeas, carrots, crushed red peppers flakes, tomato, garlic all pureed together? Even as a seven year old, I knew I had found something special. I slipped it in my pocket and saved it all these years. Willy caught me and kicked me out, which I thought was a little extreme. But nothing compared to what happened to Veruca Spice – she ate a chickpea and turned into a giant vat of garlic hummus (now available at Trader Joe’s).