Last night I had a dream that I was a contestant in some sort of cooking competition and had only a few minutes to shop and collect my ingredients.  I needed cilantro and celery (I have no idea what I was about to create) but all of the herbs and celery leaves in front of me were brown.  Dead and brown.  I can’t really remember the outcome or even if I ever started cooking, but the image of the brown leaves stayed with me all day today.

I have been thinking all winter about the brown-ness of my blog, my instagram feed and all dishes in general.  I think it is a universal challenge for those who are attempting to showcase comforting foods.  But, spring has arrived!  Colorful foods will be gracing our tables again.  Today I made an asparagus galette with gorgeous roasted organic asparagus from Hippie Organics, Neiman Ranch Bacon and Satori Cheese Bellavitano Herbes de Provence and a half piece of puff pastry from the freezer.

This really doesn’t even require a written recipe:

1. Roast some asparagus with lemon zest, olive oil, salt and pepper @ 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
2. At the same time,  cook 4 slices of bacon in the oven on a rack over a foil lined baking sheet.
3. Set both aside to cool and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees.
4. Follow the thawing instructions on your puff pastry and trim into sections about 2 inches longer your asparagus will be.  When it is ready, place the pastry rectangles on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, score a 1 inch border on all sides of each piece of pastry with a sharp knife, being careful not to pierce all the way through the dough.  Poke the center of the scored section all over with a fork to prevent the inner base from puffing during baking.
5. Layer 1/2 cup grated cheese within the border on each piece of prepared pastry, then crumble the 2 slices of bacon on each and line up the roasted asparagus neatly in rows.
6. Brush the edges of the pastry with an egg beaten with a teaspoon of water for a glossy finish and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

This galette is so simple, yet so delicious.  I served it with an equally easy Cream of Asparagus Soup from epicurious.com for lunch to fully celebrate Spring’s arrival.

Joyeaux Printemps!