Spring Asparagus

The ramps are up and I'm picking them, same slope, same smell, same spring. And the baby — Amber's baby — arrived while I was on my knees in the woods in Harlan County with a bag of wild leeks and my phone buzzing in my pocket.

Nadia Adunni Okonkwo was born on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at 11:23 AM in Louisville, six pounds fourteen ounces, with her mother's eyes and her father's calm and a full head of dark curly hair. James called. I answered in the ramp patch, on my knees, with dirt on my hands and the smell of the woods in my lungs, and he said she's here, Craig, she's here and she's perfect. I sat back in the dirt and looked up at the tulip poplars and said thank you to no one and everyone and the trees and the sky and the ramps that brought me to this spot at this moment.

Drove to Louisville the next morning. Three hours. Connie drove because I was too wound up to be trusted with a vehicle. I held Nadia in the hospital room and she was different from Earl Thomas — smaller, quieter, more watchful, her dark eyes open and tracking the room as if she were already studying it, already diagnosing it, and she will be a doctor or a scientist or whatever she wants because she is Amber and James's daughter and the ceiling for this child does not exist.

I said to Nadia, quiet, the way I said it to Earl Thomas: you are the second most beautiful baby I have ever seen, because the first was your mother, and I will not apologize for the ranking. Amber heard. She pretended not to. She was smiling.

I came home from Louisville with dirt still in my truck bed from the ramp patch and my heart so full I didn’t know what to do with my hands. Connie said cook something, so I did — nothing complicated, nothing that needed more concentration than I had to give, just the cleanest, simplest spring thing I could think of, because Nadia came in on the first warm week of the year and I wanted the table to say that. Spring asparagus. New season. New life. That’s all it needed to be.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 22 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs fresh asparagus, woody ends trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions

Prep the asparagus. Rinse the asparagus under cold water and pat dry. Snap or cut off the tough woody ends — about 1 to 2 inches from the base. If stalks are thick, peel the lower half with a vegetable peeler.
Heat the pan. Place a large skillet or cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and let it shimmer, about 1 minute.
Sauté the garlic. Add the minced garlic to the hot oil and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant. Do not let it brown.
Cook the asparagus. Add the asparagus in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper. Cook undisturbed for 3 minutes, then toss and cook another 4 to 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until the spears are tender-crisp and lightly blistered in spots.
Finish with butter and lemon. Reduce heat to low. Add the butter and let it melt over the asparagus. Drizzle with lemon juice and toss to coat evenly.
Plate and garnish. Transfer to a serving platter. Top with lemon zest and Parmesan if using. Serve immediately while still hot.

Nutrition (per serving)

Spring Asparagus — The Ramp Patch, the Phone Call, and the Baby Who Changed Everything