How to Trim Asparagus

Asparagus popping up at the farmers market is a sure sign of spring. The asparagus you'll most likely stumble on is either green or white. Some purple ones can also be seen, but when cooked, these turn green (sad face). Store your asparagus upright, in the fridge, in a jar of water (only the stem part of the spear should be submerged) and loosely cover with a damp paper or kitchen towel.

To peel or not to peel? We suggest you peel your white asparagus, due to its peel being bitter. The green ones you can go ahead and enjoy as is, with peel and all. It's delicious either way. Our favorite ways to use asparagus are in salads, pasta, risottos, or blanched with a hollandaise sauce! Also, this Roasted Asparagus Salad deserves a special mention.

Some people (you might be one of them) avoid eating asparagus because *whispering* it makes their pee smell funky. Actually, it makes everyone's pee smell funky so you're no unicorn in that sense. But wait, my friends claim that their pee is smell free, are they lying? Well, no. Your friends might suffer from "specific anosmia" aka the inability to smell certain odors. So, you might be a unicorn after all.

Ingredients
- Green Asparagus 1 bunch

Instructions

How to Trim Asparagus - Option 1

This method is perfect for when you're feeling lazy (we all do sometimes, it's ok) since you need no equipment whatsoever.

The lower part of the asparagus tends to be woody. An easy way to remove this is to find the natural cutting point and then simply bend the asparagus.

It should snap off in the right spot, but just to makes sure that you don't create any unnecessary waste, try and snap where the green part of the stalks starts fading to white.

We like to use the woody parts to flavor stocks and broths, so freeze up any waste and throw in a pot the next time you're cooking up a stock or broth. Oh, snap!
How to Trim Asparagus - Option 2

Snapping might be satisfying, but if you feel like that doesn't yield in as precise stalks as you'd prefer, we recommend using a knife.

Just line up a whole bunch of asparagus on the cutting board, and trim the ends where you see the green starting to fade into white.