Lemon Asparagus Wanna Be Fries
This might be one of the simplest, quickest and healthiest snacks I’ve ever made. Which is saying something. It’s me, the carb-oholic Czech girl with a penchant for all things Nutella, sweet and delicious. So a veggie broken down into a savory snack in minutes totally has my attention and keeps me on track with my Weight Watchers plan. And I need help on that every where I can find it. (6 months and 12 days until my wedding – Whew!)
With a bunch of asparagus in hand, a little lemon infused olive oil and Kikkoman Kara-age Ginger mix I went to work. And in 10 minutes – *BAM*, it was done and I was nomming away and on my way to healthy curves.
With a bunch of asparagus, washed and ends snapped off, they were laid out onto a non-stick baking pan (or Silpat if you have one) and drizzled with 1 − 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil.
Then into a gallon zip lock bag when the slathered and coated beauties where 1/2 cup of Kikkoman Kara-age was dredged over the top. After about 20 seconds of shaking it like a Polaroid picture, the spears were laid out again onto the pan and set into an oven set to 425 for 7 minutes or until the spears and coating begin to crisp. Take out, sprinkle with a little pepper, lemon zest or sea salt and promptly devour.
But if oven-frying isn’t your thing, feel the freedom (yup, you’re allowed) to fry these babies in a pan of 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over high heat until they turn golden brown. Of course frying them in a pan is going to crisp them quicker and more efficiently, but then the health factor becomes somewhat negated. I only said, somewhat!! At least it’s still veggies with minimal breading. You got that going for you.
Now go forth and gather your vegge. Jamie Oliver would be proud…I hope.
Lemon Asparagus Fries
Yield: 2
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 15 Minutes
Ingredients:
20 spears of asparagus
1 1/2 tsp. Lemon infused Olive Oil
1/2 cup. Kikkoman Ginger Soy Kara-Age Mix
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1/4 tsp. Lemon ZestTo pan fry:
Use above ingredients, adding additional 2 Tbsp. of oil to non-stick skillet on high heat.Directions:
To Oven Bake:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Wash asparagus and snap off bottom ends. Lay out on non-stick baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Into gallon zip lock bag, pour in kara-age mix. Place in asparagus and dredge in mixture until all spears of asparagus are coated. Lay out on baking pan and bake in hot oven until coating begins to brown, about 7 minutes. Asparagus should be fork tender.
Devour while warm, and season with sea salt and lemon zest if you would like.To Fry:
Preheat 2 Tbsp olive oil in non-stick skillet on high heat. Prepare asparagus as described above. When oil is hot, drop in each spear and allow to fry until golden brown - about 60 seconds each side. All to drain on paper towels. Season with sea salt and/or lemon zest. Devour while warm.
*The Kikkoman Soy-Ginger Kara-age was provided to me by the FoodBuzz Tastemaker’s program. Recipe is my own and so are the opinions above.*
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Kim Bee — February 7, 2012 @ 5:04 am
I love you. That is all.
Laurie {Simply Scratch} — February 7, 2012 @ 5:07 am
Ooooh girl… Ditto what Kim Bee said. Holy mother of all things delicious. I’ve died.
raquel@erecipe — February 7, 2012 @ 6:37 am
wow what a great idea, instead of eating french fries I think I go for this.
Julie — February 7, 2012 @ 8:26 am
I just bought some asparagus and I have everything to make this!
Kathryn — February 7, 2012 @ 9:12 am
What a tasty way to eat asparagus! I can’t wait for the asparagus season to start here so I can try this.
Cassie — February 7, 2012 @ 12:04 pm
Yum! I have some of that ginger-soy seasoning mix in my pantry. These look amazing!
mary — February 7, 2012 @ 1:09 pm
What a brilliant recipe and idea!! I’m trying these for sure – thanks for posting this!
mary x
Jenn from Much to My Delight — February 7, 2012 @ 1:55 pm
I love that you call them “wannabe fries”. I wannabe eatin’ some of these! The combination of flavors sounds awesome.
Deborah — February 7, 2012 @ 2:39 pm
You canm’t beat something that is done that quickly! And it looks delicious!
aarthi — February 7, 2012 @ 2:47 pm
This sounds YUMMY..Bookmarked..
Aarthi
http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/
Jenny — February 7, 2012 @ 2:51 pm
You are my hero!
surlykitchen — February 7, 2012 @ 3:31 pm
yum. these look great. i love french fries. i bet this would be good with zucchini as well.
Haley @ The Girly Girl Cooks — February 7, 2012 @ 10:15 pm
YUM! These look so good. I’ve never seen that Ginger-Soy mix before. I’ll have to be on the look out for it!
DessertForTwo — February 8, 2012 @ 5:16 am
I adore asparagus! Gotta have these!
Lindsey Hoshaw — February 8, 2012 @ 6:23 pm
What a great idea! Who would have thought asparagus could turn into fries? I know what I’m snacking on this weekend!
Jackie @ Domestic Fits — February 8, 2012 @ 6:49 pm
This is my first time to your blog! It’s adorable, you are adorable, I love it
and this asparagus looks super fantastic 
Ashley — February 9, 2012 @ 3:17 am
I am trying this ASAP!
Country Cleaver » Lazy Food Blogger Kinda Night — February 9, 2012 @ 3:47 am
[...] lastly, how could I not include another “wanna be fry” recipe – using green veggies. I might have made some out of asparagus, but avocado? Be [...]
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen — February 10, 2012 @ 3:07 pm
I love that you used this on asparagus! So different
I went the boring route with popcorn shrimp but it sounds so good on veggies. I still have one packet left though!
Mads — February 11, 2012 @ 3:32 am
I don’t think I could convince Jonathan these are “fries”, but he would probably still gobble them up! They look crispy and delicious.
Lunatic Loves These Links- Feb 8 | Cravings of a Lunatic — February 21, 2012 @ 3:55 am
[...] WANNA BE A COUNTRY CLEAVER- LEMON ASPARAGUS WANNA BE FRIES [...]