Grilled Asparagus Recipe - The Cookie Rookie® (2024)

FAQs

Should you soak asparagus before grilling? ›

Buy asparagus without wilty tips. Soak to remove the fine grit. Snap off the woody ends before grilling. Season with oil, salt, and pepper, or your favorite seasoning blend.

When ready to cook, toss the salt into the boiling water and carefully lower in the asparagus. Turn the heat to low and simmer the asparagus, uncovered, until the spears are easily penetrated with a knife, usually after about 5 minutes but from 1 minute for very thin asparagus to 12 minutes for the very thickest.

Blanching seasons the spears and also gives them a kick-start in the cooking process. "Whenever you grill, sear, or roast, you're using a really high temperature. Without blanching, you'd char the outside but the inside would still be raw." To blanch, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and salt the hell out of it.

But I discovered that when I precooked the asparagus, basically blanching it in boiling water just until the stalks were barely tender and immediately chilling it in an ice-water bath, the asparagus would grill perfectly in 2 to 3 minutes. Even better, I could precook the asparagus in the morning.

It is not necessary to trim asparagus. On some spears, especially fresh, pencil-thin stalks, the woody ends may tenderize once cooked. But on larger stalks, the ends of the asparagus are often woody and dense—Which makes them difficult to chew, no matter how soft the asparagus is after cooking.

Asparagus contains potassium, an important nutrient for keeping your heart, bones, kidneys and nerves functioning and healthy. You may be surprised to learn that this stalky vegetable also consists of a compound called asparaptine, which may help improve blood flow, in turn lowering blood pressure.

Thin asparagus is great for stir fries and sautéing. Fat asparagus is good for roasting or grilling, and best when you want to serve whole spears, even simply steamed. Medium spears work in almost any cooking method.

Lignin is not softened by heat, so it remains fibrous and tough after cooking. To eliminate lignin, snap (don't cut) the end of each spear just before cooking. It will break right at the point where the stalk becomes tender. Do this just before cooking so you leave no time for asparagus to accumulate yet more lignin.

Mushy texture: Asparagus that is overcooked can become mushy and lose its crisp texture, which can make it less enjoyable to eat. Loss of flavor: Overcooking asparagus can cause it to lose its natural flavor and become bland and unappetizing.

To remove the dirt that can get trapped in asparagus tips, fill a bowl with cold water, soak the asparagus for a few minutes, then rinse it off. Snap off the woody ends. The asparagus itself is your guide to how much of the ends needs to come off.

Why do you soak asparagus in water? ›

Fine grit can lurk in asparagus tips. To get rid of it, fill a bowl with cold water and soak the asparagus for a few minutes, then rinse off. That should rid the stems of any unpleasant sandiness.

The water will hydrate the asparagus and keep the stalks crisp. Skipping this could result in floppy, limp asparagus when you are ready to cook it.

How to Prep Asparagus. First things first, you'll need to remove the tough, woody ends on your asparagus. We prefer to do this by quickly snapping off the ends. If you're working with thick stalks, peel the ends first with a vegetable peeler to make them easier to snap.