Rinse the asparagus. Then, chop of the ends of the asparagus spears (right around the part in the stalk when it turns color) and discarded the end bits as they tend to be tough sometimes. Place the top bits of the asparagus in a bowl with cold water to get rid of any more dirt and grime. Then, rinse one more time and let sit on a paper towel.

Peel onion, ginger, and garlic and dice them up.

Add oil to a pan and set on stove top over medium heat.

Add onion, ginger, and garlic to the pan and sauté, stirring often, for about 8 10 minutes or so.

Then add in the asparagus and sprinkle on the za’atar, smoked paprika and stir well. Then let sauté about 5-6 minutes or so.

While asparagus is sautéing, cut open the pomegranate and release the arils. There are several ways to do this. But, my two favorite ways is one: cutting open a ripe pomegranate and then gently cajoling the white skin apart and popping the arils out with your fingers. If the pomegranate is ripe, the arils will pop out easily. The other way is to cut the pomegranate in a large bowl of water and gently tear it apart – section by section. The arils will sink to the bottom and can be strained out easily. Set arils aside.

When asparagus is done, remove pan from heat.

Squeeze the lemon on top of the asparagus and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Then add asparagus mixture along with onions, ginger, garlic and spices into a serving tray and toss the pomegranate arils on top.

Enjoy!