I always had it canned as a child--hated it. I guess I probably ate it in college. I remember eating it a lot from the first year we married (also liked beets for the first time, ate lots of new things I never grew up with). We had a wonderful asparagus steamer about 20 years ago. It was a tall, skinny pot with a basket for loading the asparagus into. But it rusted. The pot we still have I think.
I do like it steamed. I also like it roasted (tossed in EVOO and salted), but DH tends to put more olive oil on it than I prefer. And I do like variety, so these dishes will help.
Lemon is very good on spargel.
I tried the cassoulet dish tonight. It's good. Needs a bit more salt. I didn't have french bread (I will never have it as long as I'm allergic to sesame), and I didn't have time to make my breadcrumbs, so I used wheat germ. Not a great idea that one. But this dish really does have the sense of cassoulet--without the meat, of course. I like it better than real cassoulet--I am not a fan of pork.