Pan-Roasted Asparagus with Cheez-ish Crumble

Happy National "Pi" Day! Yes, this isn't pie, which I totally wished I had right now, but this is spring time on a plate!  I pan roasted the fresh asaparagus  in a mixture of garlic and lemon juice. For texture, I crumbled some left over cheez-ish from my spicy bacon chili pot pies. And for a burst of freshness, I added some julienned basil from my garden. Yum!

Pan Roasted Asparagus
What you'll need:

• 1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 egg
• crumbled Cheez-ish (see below)
• 1 mini sausage, cooked and chopped (optional)
• basil, sliced thin (optional)

What to do:

1. In a pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant. Add the asparagus and stir to coat them with the oil and garlic mixture. Allow the asparagus to cook untouched for 1-2 minutes before turning. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and toss to coat. Cook another 1-2 minutes on the other sides.
2. Remove asparagus from the pan. Set aside. Wipe down the pan and add another 1 tsp of olive oil. Fry the egg over low heat. Cooking just until the whites set, you want the yolk to be nice and runny. 
3. Top your plated asparagus with the crumbled Cheez-ish, mini sausage (if preferred), and your fried egg. Sprinkle with a little fresh cracked black pepper and the thinly sliced basil. 

For the Cheez-ish Crackers (adapted from Adventures of a GF Mom)

• 3/4 cup packed tapioca flour
• 5 1-inch cubes of raw white cheddar (about 5 oz)
• 3 TBSP ghee, softened at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum/guar gum
• 2-3 TBSP water, room temperature

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. In your food processor, pulse the cheese until it it looks like tiny peas. Then add the tapioca, ghee, turmeric, cayenne, baking soda, sea salt, and xanthan/guar gum. Pulse to combine, it should look like crumbly sand. 
2. With the processor on, slowly drizzle in 2 TBSP of water. The dough should start to pull away from the sides of the processor bowl and form a ball. If not, then add up to 1 additional TBSP of water, but add 1 tsp at a time. Slowly! You might not need all of it, just until the dough comes together is when you're good to go.
3. Divide the dough into 2 even sized parts and wrap with plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge or freezer for at least 10 minutes (since the dough is ridiculously soft) to firm up a bit. 
4. After cooling, working with one part at a time, sprinkle the dough with a little extra tapioca flour to keep it from sticking and roll it between two pieces of parchment (I used my silicone mat and a sheet of plastic wrap) to about 1/8 inch thick. 
5. Using a knife, make score lines in the dough before baking for easy break-apart crackers. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow the crackers to cool completely before breaking them into pieces.