Asparagus In Your Kitchen 101 (With Recipes!)

Asparagus is in season right now - this week it's on sale for $0.98 lb at Safeway, which is a really good price! If you buy out of season, it can cost you as much as $4 a pound.

When purchasing asparagus, you'll want to choose a thinner, evenly colored batch that is as green as possible when buying it. Keep it moist in the fridge - wrap it in a paper towel or in a brown paper lunch bag before placing it in your vegetable crisper drawer in your fridge. It's great to be served with fish for Lent, or with chicken too.

Lightly wash the asparagus by swooshing it in a sink or large pot of water. Make sure the tips are cleaned. You'll want to cut the bottom tips off after you are done.


You can steam it, standing it upright in a large pot if you'd like. This is my favorite way to prepare asparagus for our family:

Spray a cookie sheet with a cooking spray. Lay the asparagus on the sheet singly, and drizzle with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper if desired. Roast in the oven at 450 for 10-15 minutes depending on width of the asparagus. You can even sprinkle it with a bit of Parmesan cheese! Mine's a little wider in the picture so I roasted mine for 15 minutes.



Another really yummy way (unfortunately, no pictures at the moment) to use the asparagus: Flatten boneless skinless chicken breasts, and place a slice of swiss cheese on top. Roll around 2-3 (depending on how wide they are vs length of chicken) asparagus shoots. Next, wrap a slice of bacon around the rolled up chicken, and tie off with a piece of kitchen twine (food grade!) Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.