With vegetables like this, there’s no way I’m letting it “go bad” before it gets used. Asparagus does have a short life compared to other vegetables. Why? Well, every vegetable has a measurable oxygen level, and asparagus happens to be pretty high. Here are some tips to treat spring’s delicious ingredient with a little TLC, making it last.
Three main things to remember when caring for asparagus:
1. Wrap it: right when you get this beautiful bundle home, wrap a damp paper towel around the stems, and place it in a plastic bag before refrigerating. Asparagus can draw moisture from the towel, making it last a little longer.
2. Snap it: remove the tough ends from the tender ends by breaking one of the asparagus at the natural breaking point. You can easily find where the tough end begins by carefully bending one all the way down, and letting it snap on its own.
3. Tough Ends vs Tender Ends: use the tender tends in stir frys, roasted, blanched and put on salads, in pastas, etc. The tough ends don’t have to be thrown away! Use them to make Creamy Asparagus Soup.
Give it a try – you won’t be disappointed!
Get the recipe here.
When cooking roasted asparagus, everyone has the way they’ve done it for years. But, if you’ve had them cooked right, chances are you love them. Here’s how you can get them crunchy, cooked through, and roasted perfection.
1. High heat. Forget low and slow! To get the desired crispiness on vegetables like asparagus, the heat has to be hot – 425 – 450 degrees F. Sometimes I will just put them under a high broil (for complete instructions, click the link below!)
2. Hot sheet. While you’re prepping the asparagus, place the baking sheet in the oven so it can get up to a hot temperature. That way, when the asparagus go into the oven, the baking sheet will not have to heat too….the asparagus can really get hit with heat from every side, which is what we want for the perfect roasted asparagus!
3. Single layer. If the pan is crowded with vegetables, they will steam instead of roasting. To get the perfect roasted asparagus, each vegetable has to have its own “space.” Don’t crowd the pan! Keep everything in a single layer, and everyone will be happy….and to roasted perfection.
When you’re done, you’ll have some tasty, roasted asparagus waiting for you!
Try out this recipe (complete with a delicious dip!)
