After washing them, I break off the bottoms of the stalks. There's usually a natural point at which they break, so the tougher stem part comes off.

Then steam them whole in a vegetable steamer, or

toss them whole lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper (in a plastic bag) and then roast (without bag) spread on a pan at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or

saute them whole in a nonstick pan with a little olive oil for a couple of minutes, then add a half cup of water, cover and steam them on medium-low heat until barely tender. Remove cover, let the water cook off.

Or break them into pieces about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, putting the heads aside, and stir-fry them with a little oil, add the heads, add water and steam them as above.

I've never tried standing them up in a pot.

options.

except that I don't add so much water. I just get them a bit brown in the pan with oil (and garlic, if you'd like, added later), and then just put in very little water and cover them a bit. It seems to work every time. That said, I often cut off a lot of the hard bits, because I never seem to go through a whole bundle fast enough anyway.

gob of fibers that won't break down?

and the breaking spot varies on each stalk. Some you can snap off 4 inches, some an inch, etc.

I have also read about people peeling the tough areas a bit with a vegetable peeler, but never tried it.

BTW canned asparagus isn't bad -- I dislike most canned foods. You can also get it frozen.

and just bend until it breaks, it breaks in the right spot.

I also do the roasting thing but sometimes I drizzle some balsamic vinegar in there too.

and i hope you get other ideas in this thread...I love asparagus and I'm always looking for new ways to eat it. Sometimes I do the equivalent of Thanksgiving green bean casserole - throw a can of spears in a pan, add cream of mushroom soup and top with shredded cheddar and bake til the cheese is desired melty. But I'm sure that would be opposite of what you are looking for diet-wise.

Oh I remembered I also do the roasting and throw some minced garlic in there too. I love garlic so I hit it pretty hard.

It was yum. But the stringy part detracted from it. I'll have to work on that.

I have grown my own, and I have eaten store bought ( but not recently, store bought tasted too matellic to me)
I have peeled the string part so that the bottom stalks were tender to simmer.
I have steamed asparagus ( in a steamer basket)
I like it raw.
But nothing is as good as cutting them into pieces, at an angle, and stir frying them in a bit of oil, till fork tender, then add a splash of soy sauce, put the lid on for 1 minute, dish up and eat them all by yourself!!!
MMMMMmmmmmmm goood.

Try it, you'll like it.

We tried the roasted version tonight. It cooked at the same time and temperature as the tilapia. 430 for about 18 minutes. I just had to flip the fish halfway through. They were huge tilapia so it might take less time on the fish with smaller fillets.

Roasting gives it a wonderful flavor, doesn't it? I'm so glad it came out well for you.

I usually roast asparagus, then serve it on pasta with lots of parmesan cheese and maybe a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.

I might try that pasta dish on Sunday. Thank you so much Liberal Esto. I appreciate it.

My dear friend,

You should NEVER under ANY circumstances boil asparagus (other than in
the process of canning). It should all be lightly steamed so it still
has consistency. The trick is to sample the cut points from the stem
end until you can eat a 1/4" slice raw. With freshly picked asparagus,
that means where you picked it. Store bought is a little different.
Get past the stringy parts. Even if you boil the piss out of that part
of the stem it will STILL be stringy.

Get a steamer basket, hand snap the pieces into bite-sized pieces, and
if it's hard to hand snap, you've probably hit the string-point on that
stalk. The ONLY way to "perfectly cook" asparagus is by steaming,
although grilling is a close second.

steaming takes too long for me - we usually cut them in about inch long pieces and cook covered in the microwave for about 5 to 8 minutes. add about a tablespoon or so of water to the dish.

go for another minute at a time if they aren't done enough. butter and salt

Thanks Kali.

LOVE spare gus!

At least I know the process is working.

Then cover in Hollandaise. Good for the diet!

Asparagus makes your urine smell funny, in case you've never eaten lots of it and wondered, "Wow!" afterwards...

You probably won't loose too much water, as it's not as good of a diuretic.

Ah, but however, it's healthy, so why not go with all the good recipes including some red pepper flakes, garlic in a wok with olive oil!

Granted, it might not help me lose excess pounds, but, it sounds like it's good for the kidneys.

http://www.your-healing.com/naturaldiuretics.html

Thanks for the recipe!

But, you know (and people hate this, but it's true, even though it's hard)

There isn't one thing that exercise isn't good for (unless you over-do)

Agree about natural diuretic, too.

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http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grilled_asparagus/
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The night before, pull the leaves back, clean out the filaments, rehusk and tie them. Soak them in a pan of water kept in the refrigerator. And then grill them slowly. Yum. Good.

called an asparagus pot that you might find for under 50 bucks in your local gourmet shop, yard sale or online somewhere:



I've used them, and they work reasonably well.