Save Those Stems!

Yes, these are asparagus stems. You know, the woody, tough part you snap off when you are rinsing your asparagus and prepping it for cooking. For years, I had been tossing them or sending them off to the compost heap. But a few months ago, I started to wonder if I could use them for something better. What if these could be food, instead of food waste?

A huge trend in the food industry right now is using up all of what you have. In fact, some new and trendy restaurants are even being created entirely for the purpose of using food waste. Chefs all over the globe have been getting pretty creative, and a lot of them are turning out new and inventive dishes that cut waste before it ever even leaves the kitchen. Not only does this limit a restaurant’s food waste, but it helps it to run more economically and turn a profit as well. Now when a chef buys beets, he uses the whole beet as a side dish or in a salad, and makes a nice sautéed green out of the tops. No waste.

There will be more on this later, but for now, as you are prepping your Easter asparagus, save those stems. I will be posting a recipe to use them for something good to eat. Stash them in a clean jar or a ziptop bag in the fridge and keep watching for that recipe.