When life gives you pencil-thin asparagus (you know, the kind that overcooks in a second!), cut the stalks into thin coins and make asparagus picada – a very non-traditional riff on the pounded paste of bread, nuts, garlic, and olive oil from the Catalonian region of Spain. I love picada and have made various versions of it over the years, but I’d never thought to add a vegetable to the mix. It works! Here I paired it with chicken thighs that I seasoned with smoked paprika/cumin/mustard powder, then seared in a cast-iron skillet. I made the picada in the same skillet so the bread could soak up every bit of schmaltz in the pan, and instead of pounding it, I chopped everything by hand to make a crumblier version. It’d be good over so many things: fish, shrimp, steak, fried eggs, grilled halloumi, salad, grilled vegetables, etc.