Penne pasta with asparagus, lemon, and tomatoes

Bunches of asparagus look irresistibly fresh and appealing in May and June, and lend themselves to grilling, broiling, or pasta primavera. This dish resembles a warm pasta salad, equally vegetables and pasta. I chose penne because it's roughly the same size and diameter as thin asparagus spears, and I cut the asparagus into penne-length pieces to emphasize the effect. Lemon brightens the whole thing up for early summer.

You will want (makes leftovers or can be easily halved):

• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 pound pasta
• 1 tomato
• 1 lemon
• 4 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• parmesan

Begin boiling salted water for your penne. Once boiled, add the pasta and cook until al dente, then drain and set aside.

Wash your asparagus, trim the bottom 1" from the stems, toss in olive oil, and either grill or spread out on a baking sheet to broil 5-15 minutes. I've burned dishes numerous times while broiling, so check on these every five minutes to avoid burning!

Meanwhile, finely chop four cloves of garlic and sauté in olive oil in a large frying pan. Add one chopped fresh tomato and cook until slightly soft, then turn off the heat.

Once the asparagus is no longer stringy, remove from the oven, cool, and cut spears into penne-length pieces. Toss the penne and asparagus into your garlic-tomato sauce, add the juice of one lemon, grated parmesan, and black pepper. Enjoy!