How To Thoroughly Clean Asparagus

Cleanliness is next to godliness, and that is especially true when you are prepping asparagus to grill, saute, or bake a springy asparagus and lemon ricotta tart. Those little stalks look deceptively easy to clean; however, between the small scales and the fragile spears, asparagus requires extra care and attention to ensure you're thoroughly washing it without damaging the delicious parts. If you simply give it a quick rinse and start cooking, you are going to end up with a mouth full of sand, dirt, or worse. Yuck! You've got to have a strategy, and for asparagus that begins with trimming the ends.

The woody part of each asparagus stalk has got to go. It's fibrous, tough, and not very tasty. After you accomplish this, it's baptism time. You want to take a bowl of cold water and allow the delicate spears to bathe in there for about 10 minutes. This will loosen all that grit from the crannies and crevices of this veggie. Next, run the spears under cold water and gently rub those tips to help remove anything that was still left behind after the cold water bath.

After your asparagus is thoroughly clean, you want to dry each stalk with a kitchen or paper towel. This is really important because the asparagus stalks will steam if they are damp when you cook them, and you don't want that. However, be careful not to break or tear them when drying as asparagus can be fragile. Once they are no longer damp, you are ready to take your swing and turn them into a masterpiece.

When it comes to storing asparagus, don't store it in the plastic bag it came in. You want to treat your asparagus like a bouquet of flowers by storing it upright in the fridge in a jar full of water. This will keep it fresh and limp-free for at least three days. How do you know when it has gone bad? Asparagus should be bright green and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If the tips have developed black spots or if you find the stalks have turned yellow or brown and lost their firmness, it's probably time to toss them.