The solution: trim those spears! It’s really easy to remove the woody ends from your asparagus, but not always that intuitive as to how to trim your asparagus. Read on to learn the perfect method. Asparagus stalks or spears grow straight out of the dirt. When you buy them at the store, you’re buying pretty much the entire portion of the plant that grows above ground. And like many other plants in our garden, the portion that’s closest to the roots tends to get woody and firm. Think about how trees grow: the trunk is hard, dry, and needs to be cut with a saw, whereas the upper branches and leaves are more flexible. Eating the bottom portion of an asparagus spear is somewhat analogous to chewing on a tree trunk. Okay, it may not be quite as impossible to chew as a tree trunk, but you get the analogy. Since we don’t want to eat these tough tree trunk-like parts of our asparagus, we cut them off. The bend and snap is my preferred method for trimming the woody part from an asparagus spear, because it completely takes the guess work out of the process. Also, it has the advantage of requiring literally no equipment, aside from your own two hands. Discard the base end, and go on your merry way and cook up the rest of the spear. This method will always remove all of the tough parts you don’t want to eat. So you’re guaranteed not to get a mouthful of stringy stuff. The only disadvantage is that you can break off slightly more asparagus than is needed, but it really will only be a tiny bit! To do this, first take a look at an asparagus spear. Take note of where the color changes near the base from a relatively uniform green, to paler green, white, or even a shade of purple. Place the spear on a cutting board, and use a knife to cut it at a point that removes all of the pale green or white portion. If you’re having trouble figuring out where to cut, use the bend and break method first, one one spear. This will give you a visual idea of what to cut off, which you can then apply to your other asparagus spears. Tip: You may be surprised at how much of your asparagus spear needs to be removed. It’s probably more than you think, and often up to a third of the length of a spear. Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
