Steaming is one of the best ways to keep the properties of food as intact as possible. By using a small amount of oil, it is also possible to prepare low-calorie dishes, ideal for losing weight or keeping fit. However, there are many people who believe that to carry out this cooking technique it is necessary to use a steamer, and the truth is that it is not!
On this occasion, we have decided to prepare some delicious steamed green asparagus, although the recipe is the same if we want to steam white asparagus, slightly changing the cooking time. Regardless of the type of asparagus you want to cook, in this article we show how to steam asparagus and share the cooking times for all cases, the calories of the dish and some tricks.
Ingredients to make Steamed Asparagus:
- 300 grams of fresh asparagus
- 1 splash of olive oil
- 1 pinch of black pepper
- 1 pinch of salt
How to Steam Asparagus:
Wash the asparagus and remove the stringy part. Depending on whether you are going to use green, wild or white asparagus, you must clean them in one way or another. In the case of greens and asparagus, there are those who remove the tips, however, they are edible and equally delicious. The parts you remove can be used to make vegetable stock instead of discarding.
Trick: To know how much you should cut, take the end of the asparagus with your fingers and press, you will see that it breaks on its own, this being the area that you should remove.
If you have a steamer, place the asparagus in the upper area, corresponding to the pot with the holes in the base to allow steam to rise, and pour about a cup of water into the lower pot. Add salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook over medium heat for 7-15 minutes. The cooking time of the steamed asparagus will vary depending on the thickness of the asparagus, so it is important to check the point after 7 minutes. To steam white asparagus, you should know that the time is usually longer because they are thicker than green or wild asparagus. In this case, 10 to 20 minutes are usually required.
When they’re done, place the asparagus in a bowl of ice water for a couple of minutes to stop the cooking and prevent overcooking. If you are going to eat them right away, you can skip this step.
Serve the steamed asparagus recipe with a little olive oil. If you put them under cold water, you just have to heat them for a minute in the microwave when you eat them. This dish is ideal as a side dish, for dinner or for lunch. You can accompany it with a microwave roasted potato, with a grilled chicken breast or with mayonnaise sauce like us. It is true that mayonnaise is not a light sauce, however, it can always be substituted with another low calorie sauce. Whether you steam wild asparagus or opt for green or white ones, the result is exquisite.
