RECIPE: Asparagus Roll-Ups

My mother used to make these almost every day during asparagus season when I was a child. She'd spend the time putting them together, and we'd devour them within minutes. Now it's my turn. Kyle and Josie love them as much as me. (Ellie likes hers without cheese.)

I think the green onion version of these are called "Polish Roses".  Kyle's mom makes them with pickles for our July 4th river trip. The asparagus version is my favorite though – probably because you can only have them for a few weeks each year.

Asparagus Roll-Ups

Ingredients
20 stalks of steamed, blanched asparagus
20 slices of thinly sliced ham
1/4 package of cold cream cheese

Directions

1. Steam your asparagus - blanch it to the tenderness that you like. We like ours to have a tiny bit of crunch left.

2. Pat your stalks dry.

3. Lay the slices of ham out on a few paper towels. Pat these dry as well. Cut the cream cheese into 1/2" wide slices (see below). Cover each ham slice with a slice of cheese.

4. Lay one stalk of asparagus on each ham/cheese slice. Roll them up tightly.

5. Chill and enjoy! (Really, good luck chilling them - I usually eat 4 or 5 before they make it to the fridge.)