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How to Cook
Beautiful Asparagus
by Michelle
Jones, editor of CookingLow-Fat.com
If you've been eating canned asparagus all these
years, you're in for a real treat! Canned vegetables have little, if any,
nutritional value because they are cooked out in the high-temperature cooking
process they get at the canning companies. Besides that, you can often find
fresh asparagus on sale, therefore saving your money and nutrients all at once,
not to mention that they taste better too! Here's a few tips for picking and
cooking those tender spears to beautiful perfection.
Pick fresh looking asparagus spears that aren't wilted or damaged in any way. Look for pretty tops first, then look for the size stalk you want.
If you use the larger spears, you will have to peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler, but if you use the thin ones, you won't!
Directions:
* Rinse the spears and place in an inch of boiling water, laying about half of
the batch down flat, depending on the size of your pan. Do NOT cover, or they
will lose their pretty bright green color.
* Cook the spears until they are fork-tender, about 5 minutes or less. There's
no need to pierce every spear to test if they are done, if a few of them are
ready then they all will be.
* Immediately place all the cooked spears into a bowl of ice water to stop the
cooking process, then remove them from the ice water and place on a serving
plate.
* If serving time is still a bit away, you can reheat them in the microwave for
30 seconds without changing their color or texture. Continue to cook the rest of
the batch in the same way, and be sure to taste one as soon as it comes out of
the ice water... they are sooooo good!
Copyright 2001 by Michelle Jones, editor of Cookinglow-fat.com and founder of BlessingsforLife.com