I make no secret of it. I love asparagus. When I was younger, I would eagerly eat the tender tips and skip the thready bottom, but with age I have come to even appreciate that aspect. And now I know that I could always peel that off with a vegetable peeler.

For the past month or so, Kevin from Seriously Good has been hosting Asparagus Aspirations, a mouth watering event where food bloggers from all over the world have been submitting interesting and tantalizing recipes involving asparagus. Back in April I submitted a recipe for a savory Napoleon, using white asparagus. That prompted Kevin to create asparagus en croute (and of course, blame me for the idea of Phyllo dough and asparagus. But that is something I am more than willing to accept blame for. Actually, I think blame is a high form of flattery…well at least in this case. Thanks Kevin!

Now Kalyn, over at Kalyn’s Kitchen, had a great recipe for grilled asparagus with parmesan and that inspired me to use my latest bunch of asparagus for my own version of this.

For mine, I wanted to herb it up a bit (and hey, that makes it a great submission for Kalyn’s Weekend Herb Blogging event, which is being hosted this weekend by Lucullian Delights – check there on Sunday or Monday for a roundup of great herb/plant/garden inspired posts).

Anyway, the parmesan and the asparagus really complement each other. And the herbs add just a touch of flavor, without overpowering the asparagus. This is definitely something I will be repeating again and again.

Now, onto the recipe.

1 bunch asparagus
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt and lavender mix (I use a French grey sea salt and lavender from Williams-Sonoma, but here is another from Local Harvest or alternatively, you could use 1/4 tsp fresh lavender and 1/8 tsp sea salt)
1/2 tsp fresh chopped thyme (or 1/4 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp fresh savory (or 1/4 tsp dried savory)
3 tbsp grated parmesan

Combine asparagus, olive oil, pepper, salt and lavender, thyme and savory in a sealable bag. Shake until well-coated. Let the asparagus sit in the spice bag for 10-15 minutes, while heating up the grill.

Heat grill to medium heat. Lay the asparagus in a single layer across the grates. Cook, turning often, until desired tenderness (10-15 minutes on direct heat).

Remove from grill and immediately top with Parmesan. Let cool 5-10 minutes before eating because it will be awfully hot.