Sauteed Asparagus (1 banana difficulty)

Asparagus is good and easy to cook.  Grilled or sauteed are my 2 favorites.  Today we'll go the sauteing route.  Just in case you have never eaten asparagus before or are unfamiliar with it, in about half of the monkey population, your pee will smell funny for a day.  Nothing to worry about though!

Be sure to choose asparagus that looks fresh and crisp.  In the grocery, it should be standing up in about 1/2" of water.  When you get home you can store it in the fridge standing in 1/2" of water for a few days.  This will help keep it fresh and crisp.

Another thing to remember is you only end up eating 1/2 to 2/3 of each stalk.  The bottom part is too fibrous. 

Here's how you do that:

Take a stalk.  Hold the very bottom in 1 hand and the very top in the other and slowly bend the ends towards each other.  The stalk will break.  You eat the top part.  At this point you can do this for each of your stalks, or I usually just use the top half I just broke as a guide and use a knife to cut the bottoms of the other stalks!  Discard or compost (chop'em up 1st) the bottom parts

This recipe will show the asparagus chopped into small pieces, however you can skip the chopping and serve as is.

Enough with the talking/reading, let's get cooking!

What you need:

About 1 lb of Asparagus Stalks (Rinsed & Patted Dry)

2-3 T of Olive Oil or Butter
Kosher Salt to Taste

Black Pepper to Taste

What you do:
1.  Add 2-3 T of Olive Oil or Butter in frying pan at Med High Heat
2.  Snap the Asparagus in 1/2 as noted at the top (4th Paragraph)
3.  Leave Asparagus whole or chopped into desired size
4.  Season with Salt & Pepper, then Saute for 5-15 min. 

Yeah that's an annoying time range, but it depends on the thickness of the stalk and if you like the asparagus crispy (al dente) or softer.
5.  Serve as a side, or add to a another recipe!

Salmon & Asparagus Cous Cous

So that's it for sauteed Asparagus.  "anymonkeycan" ...