Steamed, Roasted, Stir-Fried, Grilled.

It takes effort to maintain a sense of seasonality with asparagus, given that it has become a year-round product. But right now even the stuff in supermarkets may come from a local source -- so that the stalks snap rather than bend when you apply pressure and the aroma and flavor are fresh rather than simply strong. Still, even the best asparagus needs something, even if it's as little as olive oil and lemon. Hence the following below, with the best cooking methods -- steaming (or poaching; in the case of asparagus, they're roughly equivalent); roasting; grilling (or broiling, which is always an alternative, because the broiler is nothing but an upside-down grill); and stir-frying -- and flavors well suited to each. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]