Asparagus with Bacon Recipe (So Easy) (2024)

FAQs

Why you shouldn't cut the ends off asparagus? ›

It is not necessary to trim asparagus. On some spears, especially fresh, pencil-thin stalks, the woody ends may tenderize once cooked. But on larger stalks, the ends of the asparagus are often woody and dense—Which makes them difficult to chew, no matter how soft the asparagus is after cooking.

On a baking sheet, toss the trimmed spears with enough olive oil to coat and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Then roast the asparagus in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes. That will give the veggie a sweet, roasted depth of flavor and hearty-yet-tender texture.

Thin asparagus is great for stir fries and sautéing. Fat asparagus is good for roasting or grilling, and best when you want to serve whole spears, even simply steamed. Medium spears work in almost any cooking method.

Fine grit can lurk in asparagus tips. To get rid of it, fill a bowl with cold water and soak the asparagus for a few minutes, then rinse off. That should rid the stems of any unpleasant sandiness.

By the time the tips turn black, you'll notice they're completely mushy and probably smell a little funky, too. If your asparagus is slimy or sticky, feels mushy and soft, smells foul or has visible signs of mold, it's time to toss it.

You do not want sandy stalks in your salad, so rinse asparagus well in cold water. You may even want to soak the stalks in a few changes of fresh water, agitating them a bit in each to get rid of any stubborn stuck-on bits. When you're ready to cook, skip the bend-and-snap, which can lead to wasted asparagus.

Try roasting, sauteing, grilling and more to bring out the flavor in this crowd-pleasing vegetable. The harbinger of very early spring, asparagus stays in season through the summer. Its elegant, snappy stalks stand up well to a variety of preparations, including roasting, steaming, sautéing and grilling.

Undercooked asparagus, crunchy and forbidding, can taste like a punishment. But if you simmer asparagus long enough to cook it through, its texture becomes soft and almost creamy, and its lovely flavor comes into full bloom.

Cook the asparagus no longer than 6 minutes, then rinse them with cool water for a few seconds to stop the cooking. Vegetables will go from vibrant green to olive green at about the 7 minute mark of cooking.

For asparagus, a standard serving size is six medium spears, a 1/2 cup of pieces, or just over three ounces cooked.

Why don't you eat the bottom of asparagus? ›

Asparagus stalks are famously tender at the tips and hard and woody at the ends, so nearly every recipe you'll find online starts with trimming those tough bases before cooking.

If you have issues with disease or insects, it's best to cut the tops off of your asparagus. You should not need to remove the entire fern. Before the new spears appear in spring, remove the old tops.

The snapping method can thus be wasteful, resulting in perfectly good asparagus getting snapped off and sent to the compost bin. So what is actually the best way to cut asparagus? We advocate for a two part method of trimming with a knife and then peeling the base of the stalks.

Asparagus stalks are famously tender at the tips and hard and woody at the ends, so nearly every recipe you'll find online starts with trimming those tough bases before cooking.