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Asparagus Season

Spring conjures up thoughts of warmer weather and asparagus. Asparagus is a versatile and nutritious vegetable that can be cooked a variety of ways.

About Asparagus

  • Varieties include green, purplish or purple green, or European White.
  • Treat asparagus like flowers, trimming the ends.
  • Store stalks upright in water or wrap ends with wet paper towel or damp tea towel and cover loosely with plastic. Store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
  • To prepare for serving, rinse under cold water. Peel stem with a sharp knife instead of breaking off the tough base. Start at the stem and peel more shallow as you go up the stem. Stop peeling 3 to 4 inches from
    the crown.

Cooking Asparagus

Roasting

  • Prepare asparagus stems as described above.
  • Preheat oven to 425o and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Very lightly coat asparagus with olive oil and lay out in single layer on the sheet. Very lightly sprinkle with sea salt.
  • Roast, starting out at 6 minutes and check – you want the asparagus to glisten and just start to tenderize – then pull from oven and let finish cooking on the baking sheet.

Steeping

  • Place a large braising pan with a very small amount of water and pinch of salt on high; the water will just cover the bottom of the pan.
  • When water is hot, add asparagus to the pan and spread evenly across – place lid on and leave the heat on high.
  • When water is gone, the asparagus is perfectly tender – remove immediately from heat.

 

Rachel Koroscik and Jo Cessna teach classes on healthy eating, healthy cooking and healthy lifestyles at the Leishman Center at Kishwaukee Hospital.