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We all get those moments where we just crave some really greasy, salty french fries from the nearest McDonald's or Wendy's so we hop in the car, race to the drive-thru window and order a nice peeping hot bag of fries. We can hardly contain ourselves as the aroma fills quickly into the car. We rip the bag open and start stuffing our faces with the unimaginable goodness. It isn't until we finish when the automatic guilt creeps in....uhhh ohhh....a whole bag a fries....I ate that all by myself? Well folks, I have a recipe for you to try to curve those french fry addiction pains. This recipe doesn't have any starchy carbs, grease, or tons of salt. And the best part...its another green recipe! YAY
1. First, prepare your asparagus. Many of you may not know how to properly cut off the bottom of an asparagus. In fact, there is actually no cutting involved. Yes you heard right....put down that knife! Hold the ends of the asparagus with both hands and find the spot where it naturally wants to break. This will be in the lower third of the spear. If your spear snaps half way then just try to snap it yourself more towards the bottom. When you are done rinse with cold water. This is important for the next step.
2. Place all of your asparagus while still wet (1 bundle = 20 to 28 spears = 1 pound) in a zip lock baggie with your flour and salt and shake really good until all of them are covered.
3. Next, prepare one bowl with your egg and little bit of water, making sure it is mixed really well, and another bowl with your Panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. Looking back on this step I think it would have been a lot easier to have put the egg and water in another zip lock baggie and transferred the asparagus to that bag and shook it to cover them. Dipping each spear by hand was a little tedious and time consuming and it was hard to make sure every part was covered by egg.
4. Do an assembly line with you asparagus and finish by placing them on a baking sheet lined with tin foil with cooling racks on top. The wire cooling racks helps insure that you are baking all the sides of the spear and help prevent one side from being uncooked and soggy. It allows the heat to circulate underneath to give each side that wonderful crisp.
NOTE: Like I have stated before, I do not own every kitchen tool out there, including cooling racks. So where did I get mine from the picture? My conventional oven of course! If you have a mini conventional oven just take out the two racks and use them on top of your baking sheet. BRILLIANT I tell you. It worked perfectly.
5. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and serve with ranch or marinara sauce. Enjoy :)
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Servings: 2
Materials Needed: zip lock bag, measuring cups, 2 wide bowls, baking sheet, tin foil, and cooling rack
Ingredients:
1 bunch of asparagus = 20-28 spears
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp. salt
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 large eggs
Nutritional Facts: (remember this was a 2 serving recipe)
Calories: 50
Calories from fat: 15
Sodium: 115 mg. 3%