Asparagus with two different toppings

Overview: This was my first time preparing asparagus and it was pretty easy and fun. I bought these for pretty cheap at the local farmers market. Be cautious because these can get to be fairly expensive if not bought in season or on sale.

This is how they look straight out of the bag.

On each stemmed asparagus, you have the tasty area and the area that tastes like wood and you need to get ride of the wood tasting side. It is easiest to snap off the ends of each stemmed asparagus instead of cutting the ends off because with snapping them, it will break off usually at the point where the good taste and the wood taste are separated. Place your fingers like so and push through to make them snap. Throw away the bad end.

There are three ways that I am familiar with to prepare asparagus. You can grill them, steam them in a steamer, or steam them on your stove if you have a large skillet with a lid. It was definitely too cold outside to grill them and I don't have a steamer so this was the best choice. Place a small amount of water in the skillet and bring to a boil.

Really with steaming the asparagus, it only takes about two minutes for them to be done and still taste crunchy. If you are weary after a minute or so if they are done, simply take one out and try it. Be careful not to burn yourself by waiting a little bit after taking it out of the "steamer." If you don't like them crunchy then leave them in for a minute or two longer and they will soften up.

After you steam the asparagus, place butter on them and then add your final topping. On the left, I added Parmesan Cheese and on the right I added normal salt. You can also use Kosher Salt which tastes great as well.