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Preparing Asparagus Properly is Not an Art!

Asparagus is often said to have a certain complexity. Cooking asparagus properly is not difficult at all.

Tips for buying asparagus

The sticks must be bright and firm, the tips should be closed. If you rub two spears of asparagus together, they should squeak with freshness!

The best thing to do is to start thinking about it when you go shopping: local asparagus will be available from mid-April. Freshly cut, without long transport routes, asparagus simply tastes best. Check interfaces when shopping: They must not be dry or even moldy and juice should come out when you squeeze them. The sticks must be bright and firm, the tips should be closed. If you rub two spears of asparagus together, they should squeak with freshness!

Store asparagus properly

If you don’t want to overcook your freshly bought stick vegetables right away, you can wrap them in a cloth (e.g. tea towel) moistened with lemon water and keep them in the vegetable compartment of your refrigerator for a few days (max. 3). If you want to freeze asparagus, you should prepare it ready to cook beforehand, i.e. cut off any woody ends and peel the rest. It is not necessary to blanch asparagus before freezing. Do not thaw the frozen asparagus before preparation, but place it directly in the boiling water.

Peel the asparagus properly

Before preparation, wash the asparagus briefly, pat dry, and peel with a vegetable or asparagus peeler. To do this, place the asparagus on your forearm and hold it with all your fingers except your little finger. Then use an asparagus peeler to peel from the bottom of the tip to the end of the stalk; meanwhile, turn the asparagus with your fingers. Green asparagus does not have to be peeled that far, the lower third is usually enough. With white asparagus, it pays to peel a little more generously, preferably starting under the head. Don’t throw away the asparagus shells! You can boil them for an aromatic asparagus broth that can be used to infuse creamy soups and sauces.

More about asparagus

Asparagus (lat. Asparagus Officinalis) belongs to the lily family. The perennial shrub grows to a height of about 1 m and has a woody rootstock. The asparagus buds begin to sprout at the top of the root. In spring from a soil temperature of 15 °C, the rhizome puts out many finger-thick sprouts that are white in color and turn green as soon as they come out into the open.

White and variegated asparagus

White asparagus has a typically fine asparagus aroma, is very tender, and has fewer bitter substances than other asparagus. The rungs are protected from the sunlight by mounds of earth to keep them white. White asparagus is cut 20 to 25 cm below the ground.

Green asparagus is cultivated without ridges, is tender and fine, but has a more intense taste. It is becoming increasingly popular and cultivated more and more often. Today, the proportion of green asparagus is over ten percent.

Purple asparagus contains more anthocyanins, which turns it purple. It originally comes from Italy and therefore needs more sun and warmth. Occasionally you can buy the slightly sweeter purple asparagus in Austria, more towards the end of the season.

That’s why you should eat asparagus

Asparagus consists of 90% water, the rest is valuable vitamins, minerals such as potassium, and hardly any calories (20 kcal per 100 g). It also scores vitamins A, C, and folic acid.

It’s a good thing that asparagus grows in spring, because it stimulates the metabolism, supports the liver and kidneys, and has a draining effect. However, people with a tendency to have kidney stones and high blood uric acid levels should be more careful with asparagus. Asparagus gets its typical taste from aspartic acid, which is important for the urea cycle and stimulates kidney function. After eating asparagus, the urine gets a peculiar smell.

Harvesting asparagus is manual work!

From mid-April to at the latest on St. John’s Day on June 24th, asparagus is harvested, as the harvest of the spear is known in technical jargon. Incidentally, asparagus can only be harvested by hand!

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Cooking Tips

Properly Caramelized

Delicious, sweet caramel is a fine thing, but making it yourself can be a bit tricky! But if you pay attention to a few things, it will definitely work! With our tips, you can now easily enjoy homemade caramels, caramel sauce, and more!

Caramelize dry or wet – the choice is yours

There are two methods of turning sugar into caramel: dry caramelizing or wet caramelizing, in which water is added to the sugar in a 3:2 ratio. Wet caramelizing is much easier, especially for newcomers, because the sugar doesn’t burn as easily here. Although the danger of burning is higher with dry caramelization, it is also faster because not as much liquid has to be boiled away.

What do I need to caramelize?

If this is your first time attempting the “I make my caramel myself” experiment, a light-colored pan or saucepan is advisable, as this allows you to better assess how browned the sugar is. The height of the pan or pot is also important: If you add cream or butter to the caramel, it can bubble and rise up to three times as high.

A heat-resistant (wooden) cooking spoon or spatula is also part of the basic equipment. If you want to be on the safe side when making caramel, you can get a candy thermometer.

A few tips before you start:

– Since everything has to be done quickly when caramelizing, you should have all the necessary utensils and ingredients at hand before you start.

– Do not stir: If you stir too much, this can cause lumps. The best way to distribute the caramel is to toss it around in the pan several times.

– Normal, white table sugar caramelizes best.

How to caramelize step by step

Note that the sugar will continue to caramelize in the hot pan for some time. Better to take it off the hot stove a little earlier, the perfect time is when the caramel is showing its first signs of smoking. You can also put the pot or pan in a cold water bath. The perfect caramel is runny, shiny, and copper to amber in color.

How do I get the pot clean again?

Caramel that has gone cold hardens in no time at all. What is wanted when caramelizing nuts or making brittle can become really annoying when washing up. The hardened caramel residues in the pan or in the pot can be easily removed if you put a little water in the pot and bring the whole thing to a boil.

And what can I do with the caramel now?

Wonderful classics made from fine caramel that you can prepare yourself are, for example, caramelized nuts as decoration for a nut cake, caramel candies, and caramel syrup or sauce.

For the caramel sauce, caramelize 200 g of sugar, melt 90 g of butter in 170 g of whipped cream and add the whipped cream to the sugar, let the sauce boil down to the desired thickness. For the caramel syrup, caramelize 200 g of sugar and then carefully add 180 ml of boiling water.

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Cooking Tips

Washing Fruit Properly: What to Do About Pesticides on the Skin?

You should wash fruit before eating it – especially fruit from conventional agriculture, because it is almost always contaminated with pollutants. We show you effective tips and home remedies.

Pollutants are everywhere

In conventional agriculture, pesticides are used as standard to combat pests, diseases and weeds – the consumption of which is usually also harmful to human health. Fruit and vegetables are also treated for transport so that they survive the long journey undamaged. You can find more information about pesticides here.

Consumers will therefore find food in the supermarket that is not suitable for immediate consumption, but should first be washed thoroughly. Although within the EU certain maximum residue levels of pesticides may not be exceeded, smaller amounts are almost always present.

In 2020, the Oldenburg Food and Veterinary Institute tested 79 samples of apples, of which only those from organic cultivation showed no residues of pesticides. Even if the EU only assumes a health-damaging effect above a certain value, the following still applies: the fewer pollutants, the better. We will show you what is important when washing fruit and vegetables.

Wash or peel fruit?

Most of the pesticide residues are on the skin of the fruit. So is it better to peel the fruit?

While this would actually be the most effective way to remove pesticide residues. However, most of the vitamins are also found in the peel. It is therefore advisable to wash the fruit well and eat the peel as well. Because it is precisely the peel that makes the fruit really healthy.

With organically grown fruit and vegetables, you can safely eat the peel after washing. You can read about the requirements that foodstuffs must meet under the EU organic seal in another article.

Wash fruit properly: This is how you remove the pesticide residues

Pesticide residues are mainly found on the skin. You have to wash them off before you eat them. However, some pesticides also penetrate under the peel and are not removed by simply washing.

For fruit with an edible skin, you should wash the fruit thoroughly under warm running water and then rub dry with a kitchen towel. The water jet and vigorous rubbing already removes a large part of the pesticides. Rubbing the apple quickly on the trouser leg, on the other hand, is of little use, as this only removes some dust and dirt on the surface. With more sensitive fruits such as berries or apricots, you have to be a little more careful when patting dry.

In general, only wash fruit just before eating it. Because fruits are surrounded by a natural protective layer. The water will damage it and the fruit will spoil faster.

Homemade fruit and vegetable cleaner

You can remove pesticides even more reliably than with water with a household remedy, namely with commercially available baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). This is according to a 2017 study at the University of Massachusetts. The scientists washed the apples treated with the fungicide thiabendazole and the pesticide phosmet in three different ways – with chlorine bleach, a baking soda solution and with tap water.

The baking soda and water mixture removed most of the pesticides on the skin, provided the baking soda solution was allowed to sit on the fruit for around 15 minutes. However, pollutants that had penetrated the skin of the apples were less successful in removing them with this method.

Washing fruit with a baking soda solution before eating is an effective way to remove pesticide residues. However, this means quite a lot of effort for a piece of fruit, especially the 15-minute waiting time. If you want to be on the safe side, organic products are still the best choice.

What you should also consider: Five tips for pesticide-free fruit

The easiest and most effective way to avoid pesticides is to buy organic fruit. There, chemical-synthetic pesticides are forbidden in cultivation.
Even if you peel the fruit, you should still wash it first. Because if you cut it up or peel it, pollutants on the peel get into the pulp. This applies, for example, to citrus fruits, avocados or melons.
Buy local and seasonal fruits and vegetables whenever possible. In this way you avoid long transport routes, for which the food is additionally treated. Fruit from the EU is also usually subject to stricter requirements with regard to the pesticides used. We help you to find regional products.
Avoid cleaning with dish soap. You get rid of a little more pesticides this way than just rinsing your fruit with water. However, residues from dishwashing detergent can also be harmful to health.

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Cooking Tips

Can Butter Go Bad? Here’s How to Store Them Properly

Butter can go bad – if you store it wrong. We explain how to recognize this and give you tips for the right storage.

Can butter go bad?

If you store it incorrectly, butter can go bad quickly. According to the consumer advice center, butter only lasts a few days at room temperature, for example, while it can be kept for several weeks in the refrigerator and even months in the freezer. If you are unsure whether you can still eat butter, trust your senses.

Signs such as a sour odor, dark yellow discoloration, and rancid taste can indicate the butter has gone bad. If you can identify the characteristics mentioned in your butter, you must throw it away. According to the consumer advice center, harmful decomposition products can arise during the decomposition process.

Note: An expired best-before date alone says nothing about whether the butter is still good. After all, this is not a use-by date like meat, but merely an orientation for you as a consumer.

Storing butter correctly: This is how it works

So that your butter does not go bad, you should store it properly:

Keep the butter as cool as possible, preferably in a sealable container in the butter compartment of the refrigerator.
Alternatively, you can freeze them in small portions.
If you want to spread the butter on your bread, for example, make sure you use a clean knife.
Incidentally, these storage tips can also be applied to margarine.
If you buy butter, you should pay attention to organic quality. This is how you support species-appropriate animal husbandry. The Naturland, Demeter and Bioland seals have particularly strict requirements. You can also make your own butter.

The same applies to margarine, which is even more environmentally and animal-friendly in production because it is mainly derived from plants (and vegan margarine is entirely plant-based). Margarine is particularly sustainable if it contains no palm oil.

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Food

Cooking Unripe Spelt Properly: Soaking or Not?

Cooking with unripe spelled opens up a wide range of possibilities in the kitchen. We will explain to you how to prepare the nutrient-rich ancient grain and whether you should soak unripe spelt beforehand.

Green spelt is the name for unripe spelled, which is then roasted and dried. Like other cereals (but also legumes and nuts), green spelled contains so-called antinutrients in addition to nutrients. Antinutrients can prevent the body from absorbing nutrients from food.

Cooking unripe spelt correctly: does the phytic acid have to be removed?

The antinutrients also include phytic acid, which is also contained in unripe spelled. It can bind minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium, making them indigestible for us. According to Spektrum.de, phytic acid also makes it more difficult to absorb proteins by binding digestive enzymes.

However, there is also a positive side: phytic acid is associated with anti-cancer and antioxidant effects. According to Spektrum, scientists are also discussing whether the antinutrient could have a lowering effect on blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Antinutrients such as phytic acid can be neutralized by soaking food before cooking. At the same time, this reduces the cooking time and you save energy. The meal should be prepared in a digestible and tasty way with few resources.
On the other hand, important nutrients are also dissolved in the soaking water.
So is it better to soak unripe spelt before cooking or should you avoid it?

Soak green spelled before cooking?

It is difficult to give a general answer as to the advantages and disadvantages of soaking unripe spelt before cooking. This is due to the many and variable factors on which the soaking process depends. For example, the time of harvest, the variety and the type of cultivation of the unripe spelled play a role, but also the quality of the soaking water and the duration.

You can soak unripe spelled for twelve to twenty-four hours before cooking and, if you like, continue to use the soaking water. It always depends a bit on the recipe you want to prepare. Using the soaking water as cooking water has the advantage that the nutrients dissolved in it are not lost. During soaking, the phytic acid is broken down by the enzyme phytase and therefore does not end up in the soaking water.

Whether it is unhealthy not to soak unripe spelled spelled before cooking cannot be said with certainty based on current knowledge. As part of a balanced diet, however, you do not need to worry about consuming unripe spelt and other foods containing phytic acid. In addition, soaking gives you the opportunity to make the meal even more nutritious.

When buying unripe spelled grain, also pay attention to organic quality. In this way you can avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilizers, among other things.

Recipe: unripe spelled vegetable stew – classic and vegan

Ingredients:

100 g unripe spelt
250 g potatoes
150 g carrots
100 g leeks
100 g celeriac
700 ml vegetable broth
100 ml cream / vegan cream
1 piece bay leaf
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika powder
0.25 tsp nutmeg
0.25some fresh parsley

Directions:

Put the unripe spelt in a bowl with about 300 milliliters of warm water. Let it soak at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.
Cut the potatoes, carrots, leek and celeriac to the size you want. Keep in mind that the smaller you cut the vegetables, the more cooked they will be.
Put the chopped vegetables, the soaked unripe spelt and the vegetable stock in a saucepan. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, a bay leaf and smoked paprika powder.
Put a lid on the pot and bring the food to a simmer. Then let it simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
Now add the (vegan) cream and switch off the stove after one minute. Remove the bay leaf.
Now you can serve the unripe spelled vegetable stew and garnish with the freshly cut parsley.

Tip: You can also use the soaking water for this recipe and use a little less vegetable stock for cooking.

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Food

Fasting Properly: Instructions and Tips for Healthy Fasting

Proper fasting can be interpreted in very different ways depending on the nutritional approach. We will show you which forms of fasting there are and how you can implement them yourself at home.

Proper fasting: There are these types of fasting

Fasting is originally a purely religious ritual that believers practice to free themselves from any distraction and thus establish contact with God. The interpretations are very different, but mostly the renunciation should serve the purification of the soul, penance, the defense against evil, the striving for concentration, enlightenment or salvation.

In addition to religious fasting, there is so-called therapeutic fasting. The Greek doctor Hippocrates is said to have spoken of this healing method almost two and a half millennia ago. The therapeutic fasting cure is intended to purify the body and/or cleanse the soul.

Therapeutic fasting has become a trend in recent years and fasting cures are becoming more and more popular. In Germany, some hospitals and clinics offer therapeutic fasting as fasting therapy. Today, many people resort to fasting, primarily to do something good for their health.

Different types of fasting have become established:

With so-called full fasting, the body is not supplied with any calories at all. The fasting drink only water and tea. This form of fasting is extremely risky and therefore not recommended from a medical point of view.
Buchinger fasting also integrates vegetable broth and juices.
Juice fasting focuses on various fruit and vegetable juices that you consume throughout the day.
While you should only go through the types of fasting mentioned so far for a limited period of time, you can firmly integrate what is known as intermittent fasting into your everyday life. You’re still eating regularly, but there are longer periods when you don’t eat at all and really fast. This includes, for example, dinner cancelling.

When is Lent in 2022?

In Christianity, people traditionally fast the 40 days before Easter, i.e. from Ash Wednesday up to and including Holy Saturday.

This year, the six-week Lent begins on March 2nd and ends on April 16th, 2022.

It is not advisable to strictly fast for the entire duration of “Lent”. Anyone who takes a fasting cure, a fasting holiday or a fasting day usually does so independently of the traditional fasting period.

What does fasting bring?

The supposedly positive effects of proper fasting have not yet been adequately scientifically proven. So far, there have mainly been studies that are based on animal experiments or a comparatively small number of participants. However, according to the Federal Ministry of Nutrition, there are indications that (intermittent) fasting has a positive effect on the brain, heart, fat cells, muscles, intestines, liver and blood.

Possible effects are, for example:

Reduce and prevent inflammation in the body
improved cognitive functions
higher muscle effectiveness
higher stress resilience
However, fasting is not a way to lose weight in the long term. During a zero diet, the body first reduces muscle mass and not fat. In addition, our organism wants to replenish its stores as quickly as possible after a zero diet, so that the well-known yo-yo effect easily occurs here. According to the DGE, only certain forms of intermittent fasting may prove to be a favorable aid for weight reduction.

Strict fasting methods are not suitable for older people, children, young people, pregnant women or people who suffer from certain diseases – they could even worsen the health situation. Uncontrolled fasting should also lead to a nutrient deficiency, cardiac arrhythmia or other complaints. So if in doubt, talk to your doctor. You can also inquire if there are reputable facilities in your area where you can practice proper fasting under supervision.

Correct fasting according to Buchinger: the basic rules

The so-called “Buchinger fasting” was developed by the doctor Otto Buchinger and is one of the most well-known types of fasting today. If you do the program independently at home, you should do it for about seven days.

Proper fasting according to Buchinger includes the following rules:

Lent begins with a day or two of rest to prepare you physically and mentally for the days to come. You take in about 600 kilocalories, mainly in the form of carbohydrates. For example, you can eat mostly brown rice or oatmeal with some fruit and vegetables throughout the day.
The first day of fasting is followed by defecation with the help of Glauber’s salt, laxative drops or laxative tea.
During the fasting period of about five days, you drink about 250 milliliters of tea with a little honey in the morning and afternoon. A quarter liter of fruit juice (freshly squeezed if possible) is on the menu for lunch and 250 milliliters of vegetable broth in the evening.

In addition, you should drink at least two liters of mineral water or unsweetened tea every day.
In some cases, you can also integrate oat or rice gruel as well as buttermilk and skimmed milk (or plant-based alternatives) into the fasting plan.
Use the time when you really fast to calm down inside. So you can do relaxation exercises and breathing exercises or meditations every day.
You should also move every day. So you can do light sporting activities such as walks, yoga or a short jog. Make sure not to overexert yourself physically, especially now, but to listen to your body’s signals.
To avoid a yo-yo effect after fasting and to slowly reintroduce your digestive system to solid food, you should only slowly increase the number of calories each day for the next five to seven days. At the beginning, use foods that are gentle on the stomach, such as potatoes and (steamed) fruit and vegetables, and later also whole grain products and yoghurt or quark. Animal protein should be reintroduced slowly.
Proper fasting also includes avoiding coffee, alcohol, sweets, and nicotine.

This is how intermittent fasting works

You have various options for designing intermittent fasting and adapting it to your lifestyle. The 16:8 method is particularly popular, i.e. fasting properly for 16 hours and eating within a period of eight hours. You simply extend your nightly fasting period, for example by stopping to eat at 7 p.m. the day before and having your first meal at 11 a.m. the following day.

Another well-known strategy involves eating as usual five days a week and then fasting two days straight. The Federal Ministry of Nutrition provides the following information for the fasting days:

Drink at least two liters a day. Use (warm) water, tea, vegetable broth or highly diluted fruit juices or spritzers.
Eat lots of vegetables on fasting days.
Also, include healthy sources of fat, such as vegetable oils (like olive oil or flaxseed oil), nuts, and seeds, in moderation in your fasting diet.
Avoid fatty animal foods. Instead, opt for protein sources with fewer saturated fats, such as legumes and nuts.
Replace white flour products with whole grains if possible. You can use oatmeal, whole grain pasta, spelled or brown rice, among other things.
To enhance your meals and save salt, you can use dried and fresh kitchen herbs, balsamic vinegar, mustard or horseradish, for example.
Also, make sure you get enough sleep and moderate physical activity.
In order to fast properly, you should also avoid stress as much as possible or develop strategies to better cope with stress.

8 tips for sustainable fasting

Instead of giving up all food, you could simply use the fasting period to avoid certain foods.

Here are eight sustainable suggestions:

Eat only regional foods – preferably only those that are in season or come from regional storage. Think about which region you want to limit yourself to: your district, a radius of 150 kilometers, your federal state or the whole of Germany? If you are consistent, you will have to do without a lot – but you can also use this opportunity to consciously find out what is growing and being produced around you and when. Take a look at our seasonal calendar to see what’s freshly available!
Don’t eat meat. Eating less meat is good for the environment and doesn’t harm your health either. Here are 10 tips to go a little more vegan.
Or you can go one step further and try out the vegan diet for a few weeks. It’s worth a try, isn’t it?
Buy only organic products. Far too expensive, you might think now. But is that really true? Just try it.
Don’t eat processed products. Fresh home-cooked food is more environmentally friendly, tastier and healthier than ready-made meals. And you can also easily make finished products such as vegetable broth yourself.
Stick to the 5-a-day rule: two handfuls of fruit and three handfuls of vegetables every day. It’s actually a very simple rule!
Only buy fair trade products. Surely your purchase will be a bit more complex and maybe you have to do without a few things. But fasting is about conscious renunciation!
Only buy unpackaged groceries – plastic fasting, so to speak. This requires a little bit of effort and preparation, but with these 4 simple tips for bulk shopping it will definitely work. Also interesting: plastic-free shopping in online shops

Proper fasting: It’s in your hands

In the end, you have to decide for yourself what “properly fasting” means for you personally and adapt it to your individual situation. If the conventional types of fasting are too radical for you, you can only do without sugar, alcohol, ready meals, meat or cigarettes for a certain period of time.

Fasting doesn’t have to be just about diet either. In the sense of a “digital detox”, you can do without social media, television or your smartphone for a while and thus consciously make time for other things that are often neglected in everyday life. Such a “strict” fasting period can then be the beginning of dealing with yourself and your fellow human beings more consciously and mindfully.

Many people also want to combine fasting with a break from everyday life. A fasting holiday offers the opportunity to consciously calm down and find oneself without the stress of everyday life – for example fasting hiking: for a few days you go without food and hike through nature. Fasting is often done according to Buchinger, but some organizers also offer raw food fasting, smoothie fasting or alkaline fasting. Just do some research on the internet.

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Food

Cooking the Salad Properly: Avoid These 5 Mistakes

If you want to prepare a salad, you should follow a few guidelines. In this article we will show you which five mistakes you should better avoid.

Salads can provide a refreshing and nutritious meal within a balanced diet. Depending on the ingredients, they provide you with various vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber. There are a few things to keep in mind so that you can absorb as many nutrients as possible and prepare a delicious salad.

For a salad that is as sustainable as possible, we recommend that you first pay attention to organic quality when buying the ingredients. In this way you avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. If you also buy regionally and seasonally, you avoid long transport routes and the associated CO2 emissions.

Mistake #1 in salad preparation: Washing wrong

In order to prepare a nutrient-rich salad, you should avoid washing the lettuce leaves immediately after chopping them. After chopping, the lettuce has a particularly large number of interfaces. If you wash it exactly then, it loses an unnecessarily large number of nutrients through contact with water. It is best to detach the leaves from the stalk by plucking them and wash them whole. Even then, you should only expose the lettuce leaves to the water for as long as necessary so that the lettuce loses as few nutrients as possible.

Mistake #2: Not drying lettuce

In order to prepare delicious, crunchy lettuce, you should always dry it as well as possible after washing. If you leave it wet, it can collapse faster. Drying also has the advantage that the salad dressing sticks better to the leaves and the sauce is less likely to pool with leftover water at the bottom of the bowl. You can gently dry the lettuce with a clean kitchen towel or in a salad spinner.

Cooking the salad: Mistake #3

The third mistake when preparing salad is to let too much air get into the salad. Some vitamins are particularly sensitive to oxygen in the air. It is therefore better to pluck the lettuce than cut it when chopping it up. When you cut, you break up the cell structures. On the one hand, the valuable plant sap can escape and on the other hand, the interfaces have direct contact with the air.

When you pluck, the lettuce often tears along the veins of the leaves, which is gentle on the lettuce. If you don’t want to eat the salad immediately after preparing it, store the salad in a tightly sealed container and if possible in a cool place.

Mistake #4: Wrong timing for dressing

If possible, add your salad dressing to the salad just before eating. Otherwise, the lettuce may lose some of its crispness and collapse and become mushy. This is mainly due to the salt that is usually contained in the dressings. This draws the water out of the lettuce.

Mistake #5: Too little variety in the salad cooking

From a nutritional point of view, it makes sense if you make your salad varied and diverse. This means that you should use or combine more nutrient-rich types of lettuce such as dark green and red lettuce, lamb’s lettuce, rocket or spinach.

It is best to add fresh herbs, other types of vegetables, sprouts or wild plants such as nettles, wild garlic or dandelion that you have collected yourself. This is how you add nutrients to your salad. You can also supplement your salad with protein-rich foods. Foods like tempeh, nuts, or beans will keep you full longer.

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Food

Storing Asparagus: Store Them Properly for More Freshness

Storing asparagus properly will help the vegetables stay fresher for longer. We give you tips for white and green asparagus and also show you how to store asparagus dishes.

How long you can store asparagus depends on its condition: peeled, unpeeled, or already cooked. In this article, you will find out how best to store white and green asparagus and what you should pay attention to when storing prepared asparagus dishes.

Vegetable asparagus is one of around 200 species from the genus asparagus. You can find the young shoots of the plant in stores. Germany is the largest asparagus producer in Europe and one of the five largest asparagus producers in the world.

The asparagus season in Europe runs from April to the end of June. In order to avoid long transport routes and to protect the environment and climate, you should only buy asparagus regionally and seasonally. Buy organic asparagus to be sure they are free of synthetic chemical pesticides.

Store white asparagus correctly

In the trade, you usually get white asparagus packed in bundles that are fixed with a rubber band. To keep the white asparagus fresh for a long time, proceed as follows:

  • Remove the rubber band from the asparagus. The rubber cuts into the asparagus spear and prevents fluid exchange between the cells. This will dry out the asparagus faster. Tip: Don’t throw away the ribbons, but keep using them, for example to make Easter eggs.
  • Check all asparagus spears for rotten or moldy spots and cut them off if necessary. Pay particular attention to the sensitive asparagus tips and the cut.
  • Remove spoiled asparagus spears.
  • Wrap the asparagus in a damp, clean kitchen towel to keep it fresher longer.
  • It is best to keep white asparagus unpeeled and lying flat in the vegetable compartment of your refrigerator.

Stored in a damp cloth in the refrigerator, white asparagus stays crisp for up to 4 days.

Tip: You can freshen up slightly dried-out spears by cutting off the dry ends and briefly placing the asparagus spears in cold water.

Store green asparagus correctly

Green asparagus stays fresh best when stored upright.

As already described for the white asparagus, remove the rubber band from the asparagus.
Check all asparagus spears for rotten or moldy spots and cut them off if necessary. Pay particular attention to the sensitive asparagus tips and the cut.
Remove spoiled asparagus spears.
Place the asparagus spears in a vase or jug of cold water.
You can also wrap the tips in a beeswax wrap to protect them from wilting. Tip: You can also make oilcloths yourself.
Place the “bunch of asparagus” in a cool place out of direct sunlight. The refrigerator, the cellar, or the pantry are also suitable for this.
Green asparagus will keep in a cool vase for 3 to 4 days.

Store peeled asparagus correctly

You should prepare peeled asparagus within a few hours.

Store peeled asparagus in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Process the peeled asparagus within 3 to 4 hours.
If you have already peeled the asparagus and then prefer not to cook it, you should freeze the asparagus to prevent spoilage. Fill the cut asparagus in portions into freezer cans or into a glass dish with a lid. Tip: Freeze food in a jar: this is how it works

Frozen asparagus will keep for up to 6 months. Use frozen asparagus for your meal without defrosting it first.

Recipe ideas for the preparation of asparagus

Asparagus can be prepared in many different ways as a starter, soup, salad or main meal. You can find recipes for it here:

  • Shelled asparagus soup
  • Asparagus Cream Soup
  • Recipe ideas for asparagus salad
  • Asparagus risotto
  • asparagus bake
  • Asparagus quiche
  • Springlike asparagus tarte flambée
  • Asparagus strawberry salad
  • Fried noodles with asparagus
  • Asparagus casserole: classic from the oven
  • and more asparagus recipes

You can eat asparagus raw, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Or get creative with the following cooking methods:

  • Grilled asparagus
  • Roasted asparagus
  • Cooked asparagus
  • Asparagus from the oven

Store asparagus dishes correctly

Asparagus dishes should be eaten as fresh as possible. Even cooked asparagus only stays fresh to a very limited extent. If you store cooked asparagus for too long, bitter substances will develop.

If something is left over, do the following:

  • Pack the asparagus dish in a well-sealable tin. Alternatively, you can store asparagus sauce or asparagus soup in a small saucepan with a lid.
  • Store the asparagus dish at refrigerator temperature.
  • You should eat the asparagus dish within a day.
  • Reheat the dish fully before eating.
  • An exception is the asparagus soup, which stays fresh for up to two days.

Tip: If you know that you won’t finish your asparagus dish within a day, simply freeze the meal in portions.

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Cooking Tips

9 Chef`s Tips How to Roast Beef Properly and Tasty

They joke that the ancient Romans were the first to invent steaks during the sacrifice to the gods. Apparently, some priest furtively licked his fingers, and … did not carry the victim to the altar. I ate, I was not afraid of the gods. But, perhaps, this is speculation. People obviously learned how to roast meat before they built altars.

The next milestone in steak history was the discovery of America. After Columbus, Europeans arrived there and brought with them cows of various breeds: LongHorn, Hereford, and Angus. This laid the foundation for American barbecue culture.

In 1735, the world’s first Steak Club opened in England. It even included members of the royal family. And the club existed for over a hundred years. Until now, one of the varieties of steaks bears its name – club steak.

  1. Look for steaks with good marbling. The best is the meat of young (150-180 days old) grain-fed gobies. Look for information on the label.
  2. A rib-eye steak is best for pan cooking. It is versatile. The name comes from two English words rib-eye, i.e. “Rib” and “eye”. The rib is where the cut comes from, and the eye is its cross-sectional shape, which is also inherited by ribeye steaks. The abundance of fatty layers, the very marbling of the meat, quickly melt when frying, making the ribeye the juiciest and most unpretentious of all steaks to cook.
  3. Before cooking the steak, you need to lie down a little so that it reaches room temperature. If you took a steak out of the refrigerator, where the temperature is “zero”, leave the meat on the plate for half an hour.
  4. Salt and pepper the meat before putting it in the pan or grill.
  5. You can make seasoning with salt, water, spices, lemon juice, and rosemary. Pour the steaks directly on the grill.
  6. After frying on each side at the maximum temperature, reduce it to 100-120 ° C. If you are cooking at home, just turn the heat down. When grilling, simply increase the distance from the grate to the coals.
  7. Use tongs or a spatula to turn the steaks. But, by no means a plug! Otherwise, the juice will flow out.
  8. The total cooking time for steaks to Medium level is about 7 minutes.
  9. Before serving, put a small piece of butter in a skillet, directly on top of the meat, cover with foil and leave for 5-8 minutes. The steaks will be delicious!
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Cooking Tips

9 Tips on How to Clean and Defrost Fish Properly

Each hostess in the kitchen is a student and teacher at the same time. She can tell little tricks when cooking any dishes to her friends, as well as learn new things in cooking herself everywhere: from her mother, and from the same friends, and on the Internet, and in her favorite TV programs on TV. From childhood, we learn how to cook our own food by watching adults do it. Over time, the skill is honed and we become chefs in our kitchen, preparing delicious dishes for family and friends.

  1. Before cutting salted fish, it is recommended to fill it with cold water and hold it there for a while so that the fish swells slightly – this will make it easier to clean.
  2. The insides of small fish can be removed quite easily without cutting the abdomen. Make a deep incision near the gills, then sever the fish’s spine and remove the fish’s head and entrails.
  3. The fish is easily cleaned from the scales if it is first dipped in boiling water, and then put into warm water with the addition of a small amount of 9% table vinegar.
  4. The skin of the fish can be easily removed if the fish is preliminarily sprayed with vinegar (9% table vinegar).
  5. Scales from the fish are removed more easily and faster if you start cleaning it from the dorsal fin to the abdomen and to the tail.
  6. If you are cleaning very slippery fish, dip your fingers in salt to make your work easier.
  7. It is easier and easier to clean the fish using a regular grater under a small stream of cold water in the direction from the tail to the head.
  8. It is recommended to defrost frozen fish in cold water with a little salt added. Never use hot water for defrosting – the quality of the fish will noticeably deteriorate.
  9. Fish fillets should be defrosted simply in the air, covered with cling film.

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