Vegetable Cookies?

Did you ever earn a reputation for something that you'd rather not be known for? I certainly have. When I was a young and impressionable kindergartner, I brought in treats to celebrate my birthday. I didn't bring your standard cookies or cupcakes, though. No, instead my mother sent me in with a tray of zucchini bread. I didn't think anything of this at the time because I really like zucchini bread, and loved it even then. I was happily passing out my birthday "cake" when I heard one of my classmates speak up.

"What is that?" she asked, pointing at her square of zucchini bread.

Confused, I replied, "What?"

She jabbed her finger at the bread. "That green stuff."

"Um." I felt a sinking sensation of doom, sensing that there was no way I could answer truthfully and not lose likeability points with my peers. "It's zucchini."

"Zucchini?" she shrieked. "That's disgusting!" And she refused to eat her zucchini bread. A few others of my classmates joined her in her embargo, much to my chagrin.

Thus began my reputation as the kid who brought zucchini bread for her birthday. Every year I'd bring some home-baked zucchini bread, every year I'd try to insist to this girl that it was not in fact zucchini bread, and every year I'd fail, humiliated.

These cookies remind me of my stint as the Zucchini Bread Girl. Not that that's a bad thing. It's just rather amusing to me that, after all that trouble and trauma, I would choose to make cookies like these.

And guess what? Like zucchini bread, they're totally delicious, despite what my classmate would call those "disgusting" flecks of green. Don't believe me? Try them for yourself before judging. If not, you might miss out on something great!

Impossibly Good Asparagus Spice Cookies

1/2 cup grated asparagus (I ran 5-ish spears through my food processor)
1/2 cup butter (I used Smart Balance)
1/2 egg

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 /2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp lemongrass
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/8 cup crystallized ginger chips (or diced ginger)

Preheat the oven to 375*F.

In separate bowls, mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry bowl, stirring as you go. Grease a couple of cookie sheets, then plop the batter in teaspoon-sized lumps onto the sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Remove, cool, then remove from the tray.

Makes about 18 cookies.

Speaking of mothers and birthdays . . . it's my mother's birthday today. Happy birthday, Mom!!