What is asparagus?
Asparagus is an herbicidal perennial veggie that is white, purple, or green and easily recognizable for its long and pointed spears. It is a perennial flowering plant having 20 calories, 2.2g of protein. It grows from the plant in sandy soil and grows 10 inches in 24 hours. It grows in a temperate region where areas are cooler with long winters. It grows mostly in the spring season. The biggest producers are China, Peru, Mexico, Germany, California, Michigan, and Washington. It is harvested from March till June.
Benefits of asparagus:
It helps in fighting some types of cancer. It provides high fiber content, folate, and other nutrients which are excellent for a healthy heart, healthy pregnancy due to its richly folic acid presence and benefits the body. It works in the breakdown of toxins in the liver, for hangover remedies and alcohol toxicity. It protects the kidney from stone formation. It contains a high level of amino acid means it prevents urinary tract infections. It is also a source of vitamin E which helps to strengthen the immune system. It helps in increasing digestive health and fighting bloat. It is also a good source of vitamin K which helps in coagulation as well as bone health. It also helps in boosting moods.
Taste of asparagus:
Now let’s get into the essence of the matter, what does asparagus taste like? It has a strong flavor and its taste reassembles mostly with mushrooms and celery while others find it reassemble broccoli. When it is baked with olive oil or lemon juice its tastes like beans. Comparing green asparagus to the white ones, the white one taste is slightly sweeter bitter but less grassy. Asparagus needs to be stored in the fridge as it goes bad quickly if left on the counter. Its flavor is hard to describe by words. The presence of vitamin A helps in improving eyesight. It gives great nutritional value to diet and various health benefits.
Cooking asparagus:
Wants to know how to prepare and cook asparagus? Here are some ways.
- Steaming is one of the most used ways to prepare asparagus. Bring some water to a boil in a pot with a steaming basket. Cut about 1 inch off the bottom end of each asparagus stalk. Once the water starts boiling, place the stalks with the bottom facing down into the steaming basket. Let it steam straight for 10 minutes and it’s ready to eat.
- Asparagus blanching can be done by dipping them in boiling water for a short period so that their crunchiness can be maintained.
Food that goes well with asparagus is ham and cheese, meat, pasta, rice, cheese, and tomatoes.
Griddled asparagus can be made if you put them in a heating pan with some olive oil.it can be roasted and for that preheat the oven for 200°C. Cut about 1 inch off the bottom end of each stalk and spread them vertically on a baking pan. Spray a good amount of oil and salts across the stalk, toss the apparatus together and bake for about 20-25 minutes.
Prepare Green Asparagus – this is how it works
Green asparagus is a pleasure even without an elaborate recipe. Just try it like this:
Lightning-fast indulgence recipe for green asparagus
In contrast to white asparagus, green asparagus only needs to be roughly peeled in the lower third. It is less woody overall. Cut an additional 2 cm from the lower end.
Then cut the green asparagus stalks into pieces.
Melt some butter in a pan and fry the asparagus pieces over high heat for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and sugar and enjoy.
Read Also: Harvesting Asparagus & Its Species
Preparing green asparagus for recipes
If you want to cook with green asparagus and want to keep the stalks whole, this is how it works:
- Roughly peel the asparagus in the lower third, remove woody spots and cut off 2 cm from the end.
- Bundle and tie the asparagus in portions with kitchen twine.
- Cook the asparagus bundles in plenty of boiling salted water with a little sugar and about 2 teaspoons of butter for about 8 minutes.
- Lift the asparagus spears out of the saucepan with a skimmer.
- Arrange and continue to prepare according to the recipe. For recipe ideas, click through our recipe section for green asparagus above.
We’ll tell you everything else you need to know here: Prepare green asparagus
Made conveniently fast and delicious – green asparagus
The sun makes the difference with the asparagus varieties: While white asparagus grows under earth walls and thus retains its elegant paleness, green asparagus thrives above the ground. As a result of the sun, the asparagus plants form a leafy green – and give the green asparagus its bright color. But that’s not all: Green asparagus also contains more vitamin C than white and has a spicier taste. This also makes it ideal as a basis for green asparagus pesto.
Gardeners appreciate the asparagus because they don’t have to pile it up (repeatedly cover it with soil). The lower cost is also reflected in the prices: green asparagus is usually cheaper than white asparagus (so-called white asparagus).
Cooking creatively with green asparagus
Because green asparagus usually has thinner sticks than white asparagus, it does not turn woody as quickly. You, therefore, have to peel the stalks at most in the lower third – it is often enough if you just cut off the asparagus ends generously. Green asparagus is done after just five to seven minutes of cooking, But it also tastes great raw in salads or as green asparagus fried in butter or olive oil. Or as refined as in our delicious recipes for green asparagus!
Our recipes for green asparagus show how versatile the vegetable is. Whether as a companion to pasta, processed into an aromatic asparagus pesto, as asparagus soup or in a salad, fried, stir-fried or even transformed into delicious ice cream – there seem to be no limits for the green sticks from the asparagus plant. Be inspired by our recipes and recipe videos.
There are even more asparagus recipes for green asparagus and white asparagus here. We also reveal how you can freeze asparagus. And did you know that you can eat green asparagus raw?
