Sous vide isn't just for meat

I love asparagus, but I'm very picky about it. For me, the texture has to be perfect. If it's overcooked it becomes very limp and mushy. Undercooked it's tough and stringy. For most cooking methods, achieving the perfect texture is quite tricky as the time from perfect to disaster is measured in seconds rather than minutes. I've cooked asparagus in lots of different ways from baking, sauteing, steaming, grilling, and boiling. All of those methods are pretty unforgiving and since asparagus is so expensive it's not really one of those things you'd like to leave to chance.

Sous vide changes all that. 10 minutes in the bag at 180F and it's done. If you leave it in for several more minutes, no harm done. The results are predictable and perfect every single time. If you like it firmer or softer, just raise or lower the temperature and get it exactly how you like it every single time. If I'm not serving right away, just take it out of the water bath and leave it in the bag. You can also cook ahead of time, refrigerate in the bag for days, and warm it up before serving.

Prep is pretty simple. Wash and dry the stalks. Grab them at each end and break them. You can toss the root end or save it for stock. Place into the bag. You can add butter, oil, or other seasoning, but do NOT add salt at this point as it will discolor the asparagus as it cooks. Personally I add nothing. Most of the time I like my asparagus very simple with a little EVOO or melted butter tossed with a bit of salt and pepper at the end.

Green beans are also fantastic using this method as are all sorts of other vegetables.