#154: PLANTSTRONG Snackables - What's Up with That Asparagus Pee Smell?!
Did you know there were three types of asparagus?
We are thrilled to welcome Jessica Hegarty back to PLANTSTRONG Snackables after a well-deserved maternity leave.
In addition to being a new Mom to her beautiful daughter, Ellie, Jessica leads product innovation for the PLANTSTRONG food line, so she always has the latest trends, food ideas, and tasty tidbits right on the tip of her tongue!
Today, Rip and Jess talk all things asparagus. They dish on this veggie that was once known as, “The aristocrat of veggies” and the “food of kings!”
You’ll learn about:
The three different types of asparagus
Why it’s so darn healthy
Ideas on how to grill and season this nutritious veggie
Tips for storing and keeping it fresh
An explanation of why (if you’re one of the lucky ones) it makes your pee smell…well…unique!
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Snackables episode without a new recipe and Jessica whips up a delicious PLANTSTRONG hollandaise sauce - perfect as a topper for your next family meal or cookout that features the almighty asparagus.
Episode Timestamps
1:45 Rip welcomes Jess back from maternity Leave
8:50 What’s up with that smell?!
13:15 Rip’s history of asparagus
17:48 How many types of asparagus are there, and what are the differences?!
22:00 Tips for storing asparagus to keep it fresh and crispy
23:45 How to choose the freshest asparagus in the market
25:40 How does Rip grill his asparagus?
26:45 Tips on seasoning your asparagus
30:45 The proper way to eat asparagus
31:20 Jess’s WFPB Holy Cow Hollandaise recipe and demo!
Episode Resources
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PLANTSTRONG Sedona Retreat - October 10th-15th, 2022 - Dr. Doug Lisle - the esteemed evolutionary psychologist and co-author of The Pleasure Trap - is attending our upcoming Sedona Retreat to give three of his paradigm shifting lectures that help us understand all the forces working against us in our quest to live plantstrong. Once you SEE the system we live in - you can’t UNSEE it. And Dr. Lisle is a master in giving us language and tools to set ourselves on a permanent path to success. And great news! Our Sedona retreat has been approved for 21.5 CME credits for physicians and physician assistants. And 21.5 Nursing Contact Hours for nurses…. And 2.2 CEUs for other healthcare professionals as part of the registration fee for our PLANTSTRONG Retreat.
Promo Music: Your Love by Atch License: Creative Commons License - Attribution 3.0
Full YouTube Transcript
Rip Esselstyn:
I could have one little quarter of an asparagus and the next time I urinate, I'm like, wow, that hit me hard.
Jessica Hegarty:
It's so funny. So it's really actually, because of a unique acid, that's only in asparagus called asparagusic acid and it doesn't smell on its own, which is why when you break fresh asparagus and smell it doesn't have that smell. But when you digest it, Rip, your body actually breaks it down into a bunch of sulfur based compounds. So there's dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethyl sulfone. And the two things that I hear in that are methane, which I think of cow farts and sulfur, which we all know doesn't... So those two really stinky things that your body creates from that asparagus acid, it makes sense why it smells. And it's actually the sulfur, not the methane.
Speaker 3:
I'm Rip Esselstyn and welcome to the Plant Strong podcast. The mission at Plant Strong is to further the advancement of all things within the plant-based movement. We advocate for the scientifically proven benefits of plant-based living and envision a world that universally understands, promotes and prescribes plants as a solution to empowering your health, enhancing your performance, restoring the environment and becoming better guardians to the animals we share this planet with. We welcome you wherever you are on your Plant Strong journey and I hope that you enjoy the show.
Rip Esselstyn:
Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Snackables where we chew on all things plant based. Back, back from a long absence. We have Jess. Now, Jessica, Jess, her last name, when we first started Snackables was Jessica Pastore. Then she met a man who she fell in love with, actually eons ago. And they were reunited in the perfect kind of storybook way. And they fell in love again, and they got married and her last name is now Jessica Hegarty. And then they had a little baby that you're going to hear all about. But Jess, the last time that I had you on Snackables was episode 110, which that is 40 episodes ago.
Jessica Hegarty:
Oh my gosh. I didn't even know that. Oh my gosh. Right.
Rip Esselstyn:
I know it's been 40 weeks, right, since we've had you on. And that episode, we talked about how do you build your big bowl? And we talked all about the big bowl cereals, which was a lot of fun.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah.
Rip Esselstyn:
But you're back. The queen of Snackables is back and better than ever, on fire in her new kitchen and Jess, how are you doing?
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah. Rip, I'm doing really well. And so happy to be back. I had a lot of ideas while I was out on maternity leave. And so hopefully those ideas will come through to create some really informative new Snackables episodes for our audience.
Rip Esselstyn:
Awesome. So how is your little precious girl doing?
Jessica Hegarty:
She's great. So I'd love to share a little bit. So her name is Elizabeth Spring. We call her Ellie. She's doing great. I can't believe it. She's eight months now. And so she's been getting into solid foods and yeah, here's a picture of her being born October 17th, 2021. And I wanted to tell a little bit about the birth story that relates to food because I think, as expected, my diet really helped me through that process. So of course, throughout pregnancy, I was eating a plant strong diet.
Jessica Hegarty:
My one pregnant lady indulgence, and I've continued this today is I do have a square or two of dark chocolate, 85% dark chocolate. And every once in a while, when we're out, I would get a coconut chia pudding or something with coconut in it. But in those last weeks of pregnancy, I got rid of the chocolate, I got rid of the coconut desserts. I was all about blood flow. I wanted to make sure my veins were equipped for what was coming.
Rip Esselstyn:
You were pure.
Jessica Hegarty:
I was, I was. And every single night I would eat a huge kale salad, raw kale salad with balsamic vinegar, a huge bowl, like huge. Every single night without fail. So I really wanted to-
Rip Esselstyn:
And can you remind our audience, why did you put balsamic vinegar on top of your kale?
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah, sure. So it boosts, the acetic acid, actually boosts nitric oxide production. Isn't that right?
Rip Esselstyn:
Bang on.
Jessica Hegarty:
So all those leafy greens. And we found, we love our fancy balsamic vinegar and it was delicious. I still eat it, not every night, but it comes through. But, Rip, I wanted to share a little story with you. So I don't know if you noticed, but I had prodromal labor, which is labor that lasts for days and it would get pretty regular at night and then slow down during the day. And so for the last week before I went out on maternity leave, I was having some restless nights where I was trying to get pockets of sleep. And as you know, I went out on maternity leave on a Friday. That Thursday morning, after having contractions throughout the night, they picked up to about one contraction every 10 minutes lasting for 45 seconds. I thought that was going to be the day; baby was going to be born on Thursday or Friday.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
And I was sitting on my birthing ball, typing some emails to our design team, eating my avocado toast. And this contraction came through and I was like, oh no, should I spit it out? Is this a choking hazard? Am I okay? And I was in the middle of an email to Chesco and it was like, hey Chesco.
Jessica Hegarty:
So, yeah, that was the day before I went out on maternity leave and I should have known, while I was laboring, I wanted to make sure to have food because I felt like that was going to be really helpful for me. And if you have to have a C-section or something like that, they don't want you to eat, right. So not that was part of our plan, but I wanted to keep that sustenance coming. I should have known that labor was getting really serious when I was eating a pair with dates and walnuts and cinnamon and all of a sudden I said to Evan, this is gross. I can't eat this. This pear is disgusting. And was like, get it away from me. And it was like two hours later, we went to the birth center.
Jessica Hegarty:
And while we were on the way to the birth center, I've listened to all these birth stories. I didn't want to be disappointed. You go to the birth center, they're going to come in, they're going to check you and see how dilated you are. And after all this, these days of labor, I was like, oh, I hope I'm more than five centimeters. Oh, Jess, don't set those expectations for yourself. It's not a good indication of how far along you are. We got to the birth center, Rip. I was eight centimeters dilated.
Rip Esselstyn:
Whoa.
Jessica Hegarty:
Fully effaced. The baby was station zero. So coming down into the pelvis and she was born shortly after. So all this to say, I think those dates that I was eating that last month of pregnancy were really helpful. The research is supportive of it. And my experience has been supportive of that. So future, I remember the midwife actually saying your cervix is really soft. And so dates, pregnant ladies out there, get yourself some dates.
Rip Esselstyn:
Dates, dates, kale, and balsamic vinegar.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yep. Dates, kale and balsamic vinegar. They really helped.
Rip Esselstyn:
Helped. And did you ever get that email off to Chesco?
Jessica Hegarty:
I did. Yeah, I did. I finished that work day on Thursday. Things slowed down. She wasn't born until Sunday morning. So, it continued, but yeah, it was great. It was great, great experience.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. Well, so in honor of you being back on Snackables, I think it's appropriate that you decide what topic we want to talk about today.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah. So one thing that's peaked my interest and we're kind of coming to the tail end of the season now. We've been eating a lot of asparagus in our household. So steamed asparagus, it's really soft, it's perfectly grippable for little babies. It's one of Ellie's favorites. She loves broccoli. She loves sweet potato and she loves asparagus. I think we've got a picture. There she is with her asparagus. You can see a little green piece in her mouth, but it's the perfect soft food for babies to start sampling.
Jessica Hegarty:
And I noticed this in myself and then I noticed it in her when I was changing her diaper. Oh, she has asparagus pee; I smell that. So I wanted to know what is it that actually creates that smell. I wanted to know the science behind it. So thank you for humoring me on today's episode, which is all about asparagus. So we have some information, like why you should stop snapping your asparagus, some pro tips for selecting, preparing and enjoying the juiciest most flavorful asparagus. And most of all, what's up with asparagus pee?
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. That is a really good question. I know I have it, to the moon and back I could have one little quarter of an asparagus and the next time I urinate, I'm like, wow, that hit me hard.
Jessica Hegarty:
It's so funny. So it's really actually, because of a unique acid, that's only in asparagus called asparagusic acid and it doesn't smell on its own, which is why when you break fresh asparagus and smell it doesn't have that smell. But when you digest it, Rip, your body actually breaks it down into a bunch of sulfur based compounds. So there's dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethyl sulfone. And it's been a while since my last chemistry class, but I recognize-
Rip Esselstyn:
Look at you go.
Jessica Hegarty:
I've got some notes, yeah. The two things that I hear in that are methane, which I think of Cal farts and sulfur, which we all know doesn't... So those two really stinky things that your body creates from that asparagusic acid. It makes sense why it smells. And it's actually the sulfur, not the methane that makes it smell. So I actually, in doing my research for this episode, wanted to fact check myself and Googled what makes farts stinky; just wanted to make sure it was actually the sulfur. So that's in my search history now. So, Rip, when you're ready for a Snackables podcast episode on Lance, you let me know. It's pretty fascinating.
Rip Esselstyn:
I think we should do that. Let's make that the next Snackables episode.
Jessica Hegarty:
There's some interesting stuff. Yeah. It's really interesting.
Rip Esselstyn:
Well, what also to me, I find interesting is that, so thank goodness when you eat asparagus and for those of us that have the gene that allow it to have that unique asparagus smell, that it doesn't smell like rotten eggs, or it doesn't smell like farts or something like that. It smells like asparagus.
Jessica Hegarty:
It does kind of read like asparagus.
Rip Esselstyn:
It smells like an asparagus smell that we're used to, which really is not, it's not, I don't find it to be unappealing or odiferous.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah, well, speak for yourself. And maybe it's just me, but I make some stinky asparagus pee.
Rip Esselstyn:
Oh.
Jessica Hegarty:
But you know, sulfur is that characteristic, rotten egg smell. And I was surprised to learn that it's actually the primary compound in skunk spray. And it's also, they add sulfur to natural gas to make it odorous natural gas so you can detect it. But here's the interesting thing. So not only is sulfur stinky, it's also volatile. And what volatile means is that it has a really low boiling point. So the compounds in your urine actually vaporize at room temperature. So when you go to the bathroom, it turns into a vapor and goes from the toilet seat up into your nose. So it's not just stinky. It also quickly becomes a vapor and you touched on this, Rip. I don't know how fast it happens for you, but I was surprised to learn that asparagus aroma can be detected in as little as 15 minutes for some people. Isn't that crazy?
Rip Esselstyn:
I bet you with me, it's less than that. But yeah, 15 minutes for sure. Wow. That is something. So, when you told me last week that you wanted to do an episode on asparagus, of course, I had to do a little research as well.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah, yeah.
Rip Esselstyn:
For people that want to know a little bit of the history of asparagus, I want you to know that it gets its name from the Greek word aspharagos and it actually stands for sprout or shoot. It has for hundreds and hundreds of years been referred to as the aristocrat of vegetables and was dubbed the food of Kings by King Louis the 14th of France. And it's funny because to me, when I think of having asparagus, when I was growing up, it always was like, kind of fancy occasions when the table was set nicely, we always had it with a Hollandaise sauce with the mayo and all that stuff.
Rip Esselstyn:
And for people that are listening, yes, we used to indulge in all that nonsense back in the late sixties, seventies and early eighties before my father really started his research in 1984. But it's also, it's a member, asparagus, it's a member of the lily family. And it's very closely related to garlic, onions and leeks, which is very interesting, because those also in their own right are very smelly. They're very aromatic. It is low in fiber; I'm sorry, high in fiber.
Jessica Hegarty:
High in fiber.
Rip Esselstyn:
High in fiber, low in fat. It's a fantastic source of iron, vitamin C, B vitamins and most notably for somebody like you when you were pregnant, folate, which is-
Jessica Hegarty:
Folate.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yes. Yes. So, I'll stop there, but that's just a couple things that I learned in my research.
Jessica Hegarty:
No, thank you for those fun facts. And you're absolutely right. It's a botanical cousin to garlic and onion. It's also sulfur that makes those stinky as well. I was surprised, Rip, to learn how fast asparagus grows. So I read that in... It's almost like you could watch it sprout up if you're growing it in your yard or something like that.
Rip Esselstyn:
Like bamboo. Like bamboo almost.
Jessica Hegarty:
Like bamboo, yeah. They say it can grow up seven to 10 inches in 24 hours under the right conditions, which I thought was fascinating.
Rip Esselstyn:
What?
Jessica Hegarty:
That's so fast. And another interesting thing, back to the asparagus pee conversation, was throughout history you see commentary from renowned scholars, physicists, mathematicians, writing about asparagus pee and documenting it. So Proust, the French novelist wrote it transforms my chamber pot into a flask of perfume. How beautiful. And Rip, you mentioned this affects you and you mentioned that it's actually genetic, the reason that asparagus is digested in a way that produces that odor. So are you familiar with the site, 23 and me, have you heard of that DNA analyzer site? I
Rip Esselstyn:
I have. I've never done it, but I've definitely heard of it. Yes.
Jessica Hegarty:
I haven't done it either. I really should. They actually asked that question as part of a survey and helped identify that common genetic marker that's linked to the likelihood of smelly asparagus pee. And what scientists have found, there's been a lot of research done bless the scientists and they're volunteers who are signing up to smell urine and classify if it smells like asparagus. There are actually producers and detectors. So there are those who make the smell and those who don't and those who can detect the smell and those who can't. So, Rip, you're a detector and producer, I'm assuming.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow. So how is it that you could be a producer and not be able to detect the smell of it? Is it just something that in your, what's the term for...
Jessica Hegarty:
Olfactory?
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah, I think so. It could be. There's a term like asparagus in, as it's not insomnia, amnesia, something like that, where you just can't notice the smell. And so if somebody says asparagus smell, what are you talking about? They might still have stinky pee, they just don't know it. So let me ask you, do you have beet urea?
Rip Esselstyn:
Beet urea? Does that mean when, after you eat beets, you get red urine?
Jessica Hegarty:
That's right. Or pink. Or pink.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow. Red or pink.
Jessica Hegarty:
That happen to you?
Rip Esselstyn:
You know what? That doesn't happen to me. I get red in the stool when I eat a lot of beets.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yep.
Rip Esselstyn:
Or actually just a little bit of beet.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yes.
Rip Esselstyn:
But I don't know. I've never recognized in the urine. How about you?
Jessica Hegarty:
I actually don't but it does come out. I do get the red number two and we can talk about bodily excretions all day after having a baby doesn't phase me. But yeah, I was curious to see it affected you. It actually affects 10% of the population. Whereas half the global population detects asparagus pee and it's really common in Americans specifically. So 80% of Americans have a noticeable scent change. So very interesting. And because this is a Snackables episode, I want to make sure we provide not only fun facts, but also helpful tips to encourage more asparagus consumption.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
So tell me, in your research, how many different types of asparagus did you find?
Rip Esselstyn:
Well, what I found is roughly three varieties of asparagus. Carrie, if you could show the three, that might be helpful. There you go.
Jessica Hegarty:
Boom.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. So you can see on the far right there, we have our green and the far left, we have our purple. In the middle, we have our white. That's going to go away now. But so the green is actually, that is the most kind of popular commercially. And there's actually two varieties of the green. You have the Martha and the Mary Washington. Are you a fan of either Mary or Martha? I'm such a Martha fan.
Jessica Hegarty:
I am a Martha fan as well. Yes.
Rip Esselstyn:
And of course I'm just kind of BSing right now, because I really don't know the difference between Mary or Martha, but yes, thanks for going along with me there.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah, sure. Well...
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead.
Jessica Hegarty:
Well, no, go ahead. You're talking about...
Rip Esselstyn:
I was going to say the purple and then the purple. The purple it's called the viola. And it actually interestingly, and if you want to talk about how it varies as far as sugar content and stuff like that, please do.
Jessica Hegarty:
Okay. Yeah. So purple asparagus is actually my favorite. And in doing my research, I see why. It's sweeter. It has a higher sugar content about 20%.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
And it also has that nuttier flavor. But it turns green when you cook it. So it loses that purple asparagus uniqueness, which was kind of a bummer. I've actually never tried white asparagus. Have you had that?
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. Well, so-
Jessica Hegarty:
I assume that was the Mary.
Rip Esselstyn:
So in my research that purple actually is the highest in antioxidants. And I think the purple color probably reflects that.
Jessica Hegarty:
Totally.
Rip Esselstyn:
The white. So what's interesting about the white is that... So do you know how they get it to be white? They specifically do something.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yes. It's amazing.
Rip Esselstyn:
They plant it under heaps of soil, in order to basically blanket out the suns rays from getting to it, which prevents the production of chlorophyll.
Jessica Hegarty:
That's exactly right. So as the asparagus is growing up, they're piling on mounds of dirt or they're covering it with a black tarp. Never letting it see the light of day as much as it might try. And so, yeah, without the sun, photosynthesis can't occur. There's no chlorophyll produced. And chlorophyll of course, is what gives plants that green color. So this made me wonder, Rip, if we could make white broccoli. No Google, I'm not asking about cauliflower. I was like, is there such a thing as white broccoli where you just kind of protect it from the sun? No, that's not a thing.
Jessica Hegarty:
It also maybe wonder if we could go grow green potatoes. If we had a way of doing clear soil or something like that.
Rip Esselstyn:
Interesting.
Jessica Hegarty:
And Evan, my husband, actually was asking me, he was like, I wonder if you could do the same thing with a purple asparagus. And if you'd get like a light pink asparagus that had a really great flavor because the green asparagus and the white asparagus are actually the same variety, just grown in different ways. And the white asparagus does have that more tender, sweeter flavor. I've heard it compared to corn or peas or turnips, which sounds delightful. I'd love to try it.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. I've also read that it's a little bit more fibrous, potentially can be more bitter. And usually... I've had white asparagus before, but I think it's only been from a can.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, it's been like really like kind of soft.
Jessica Hegarty:
Ooh.
Rip Esselstyn:
Something about the canning process. You're not a fan. You're not a fan.
Jessica Hegarty:
No thanks. It's been a while. It's been a while since I've had some canned asparagus.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
But, Rip, I think we should, if we can find some white asparagus, I'll bring some by, we'll do a taste test. I want to finish this once and for all.
Rip Esselstyn:
So Jess, I've heard that asparagus can be very finicky as far as like, after I buy it. Jill and I, we always buy asparagus. And I find that if we don't eat it within three or four days, that's that sucker goes bad. So do you have any tips for us when we're buying asparagus to keep it fresh?
Jessica Hegarty:
Sure. I sure do, Rip. So I'm the same as you. I'm kind of an ambitious chef. I go into whole foods. I see these beautiful displays. I want to pick up everything and take it home with me and eat a bunch of vegetables. But asparagus is very sensitive. So you'll notice that when you buy it, particularly in higher end stores, it's displayed in a shallow bed of water. That's the idea. That's what you want to recreate at home. So it's best to cook asparagus the day that you buy it. And you're right. Four days is really the max shelf life that you want for your asparagus.
Jessica Hegarty:
So the secret is to combat the dryness. So you really want to treat it like you would fresh flowers. So you want to keep the rubber band on to limit air exposure. You can trim the bottoms if you want to, it's not necessary, but you would for flowers, probably. You want to stand the spears up in a jar without an inch of water, and then loosely cover with a plastic bag to prevent it from drying out. So, if you want to store it for longer, you can freeze it. You know, I'd blanch it before putting it into the freezer. But yeah, those are my tips for storing sensitive asparagus. Now, let me ask you, Rip, when you're in the grocery store and you're selecting asparagus, what are the things you're looking for? Of course, bright green color, but how do you choose?
Rip Esselstyn:
I have, I have no method. There's no method to my madness. I just look at what I think looks good. I have no base knowledge on what to look for. So I am a neophyte when it comes to picking a good asparagus. Unlike other like fruits and veggies where I'm like, I know exactly what I want.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah, well, I was the same and I was actually surprised to learn that when it comes to asparagus, thicker is actually better. So I've got these thick and thin stalks here. The thinner stalks have more of this fibrous outside and what you really want with asparagus, what we all enjoy is that tender inside. So you can see the difference here. It really makes sense if you want that tender, lovely asparagus flavor to actually choose a thicker version. And I was surprised to learn that the thickness of the spear has nothing to do with the age of it. You can't keep growing a thin spear and hope that it becomes thick. But yeah, it-
Rip Esselstyn:
Do you know what causes an asparagus to get thick or thin?
Jessica Hegarty:
I don't know. Maybe one day I'll get into asparagus growing, knowing that it'll produce for 20 years. Makes me want to get into it.
Rip Esselstyn:
Well, it sounds like a really smart crop to get into, if you can grow it six to seven, eight inches in a matter of 24 to 48 hours.
Jessica Hegarty:
Right. Fresh asparagus for days and days.
Rip Esselstyn:
I'm a little bit skeptical of that. It's funny, you showed the thick one and then the one that's not quite as thick. I love, and my family loves, we love getting the, it's called pencil grass asparagus.
Jessica Hegarty:
Hmm.
Rip Esselstyn:
It's actually really super thin. And then I just throw it on the grill for a matter of two or three minutes and then take it off. And it's just, I find it to be divine.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah. So, Rip, if you're going to grill some asparagus, pencil thin variety or not, what's your process? So you've been storing it nicely in the fridge.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yes.
Jessica Hegarty:
Or maybe you came home with it from the store and are preparing it that day. What's your process?
Rip Esselstyn:
Well, I don't get it too close to the heat, but I put all the spears, we have a grill where I can put all the spears on there if they're the right direction. And then I take a wood spatula and I just kind of roll them one way, let them cook for maybe a minute, roll them the other way, let them cook for a minute, roll them again, roll them again and then take them off. But I wait for them to go from kind of a light green to a really nice, robust, dark green, sometimes just a little bit of char marks on them. And that's it. Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
That sounds amazing. Asparagus with the char marks. Well, I learned about some pro tips that may take your asparagus game to the next level. So snapping asparagus; I'm so tempted to do it, I want to do it. It's so satisfying. But what actually happens is you waste a little bit of that great inside that was otherwise fine. So snapping your asparagus, if you're somebody who wants to get the most out of your food or reduce food waste, maybe you're growing it in your backyard and you want to savor every bite. The best way is actually to trim the bottom edge about an inch with a knife, and then take your potato peeler and shave away that fibrous outside, it's called the cuticle. And that's what you're trying to get rid of. And what this also buys you is uniform asparagus. So it's better for presentation, if you're having that fancy aristocrat, if that's what you're going for.
Rip Esselstyn:
Jess.
Jessica Hegarty:
You actually don't need to-
Rip Esselstyn:
Jess. Jess.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah.
Rip Esselstyn:
I got to stop you.
Jessica Hegarty:
OK.
Rip Esselstyn:
Listen, I have been a bend and snap guy for as long as I know, and you're trying to tell me now... And I love it because it breaks right where it should, where it starts to get really Woody. And you're telling me that it's wasteful and I should cut it. And then I should take my potato peeler or carrot peeler, and then shave off the bottom of each one. Do you realize how much time that's going to add? I've got three young kids. This is not in my playbook. If I was single and had time, probably. But what about you? Are you going to take the time to do that?
Jessica Hegarty:
No, I have not taken the time to do that. But if I was growing it in my backyard, I would absolutely want to be very careful. And the thing with snapping is you really can get a snap depending on wherever you apply pressure. So I guess as long as you're really focusing down at the very bottom end, snapping can still work for you. But if you're really trying to preserve of much as much of these as you can, that idea is out there.
Jessica Hegarty:
I wanted to also give you a tip for roasting that I found fascinating, Rip. I don't know if you've noticed this, but when you go to season your asparagus, the salt or spices, they're going to fall off of that waxy outer cuticle, right.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
Especially if you're not using any oil or butter or things like that, which of course we're not. So one tip I have for you before you grill is to poke it with a fork and soak it in brine of salt water or lemon juice. And that asparagus is going to soak up all those flavors and then you're going to get that uniform flavor on the inside. So that's my tip for you. If you don't want to slice and shave, you can snap and poke it with a fork and soak it in a brine.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. Yeah. Another interesting thing that I have discovered about asparagus and I read about it as well, is that when you cook it, you typically, you lose between snapping off the end and then cooking it, you usually reduce the weight of it by 50%.
Jessica Hegarty:
Right. Right. And this method of the slicing and shaving, you're only reducing the weight by about 30%. So, that's 20% of delicious edible asparagus that goes into your belly.
Rip Esselstyn:
That sounds wonderful.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah. So, Rip, let me ask you, have you ever actually made raw asparagus salads? Have you used that? Does that go in any of your salads?
Rip Esselstyn:
No.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah. It didn't for me either. And here in a minute, I'll get into a little demo of how to create some great shaved asparagus for your salad. One thing before we get into today's demo that I learned, again in my research, was the proper way to eat asparagus. If you're dining with the Queen of England, Rip, if it's served as an accompaniment, that is, it has other things on the plate, of course, you use your knife and fork as you probably would at a fancy dinner. But if it's served alone as an appetizer or a starter-
Rip Esselstyn:
Your fingers?
Jessica Hegarty:
It's a finger food.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow.
Jessica Hegarty:
Isn't that crazy? Pick it up with your finger, dip it in the sauce. Go for it.
Rip Esselstyn:
I love it. I love it.
Jessica Hegarty:
Isn't that so funny.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
So speaking of delicious dips for our asparagus, I have a really great recipe that I'm so excited to share with you. It is whole food plant based holy cow Hollandaise. And this is something that has been adapted from some recipes that I found on online and created just for Plant Strong. And I'd love to do a quick demo.
Rip Esselstyn:
I would love that. Do you know the history of why is it that like Hollandaise sauce has, for it seems like time immemorial, been paired with asparagus?
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah. I don't know where that came from. Maybe asparagus wasn't considered to be as delicious. So they needed to cover it with egg yolks and butter and who knows what. A bunch of people who didn't like vegetables, maybe.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
Try to make it taste better.
Rip Esselstyn:
This sounds absolutely delicious. So do you want to take us into the kitchen?
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah, let's do it. All right. So first thing, if you're like me and you want to make nut butter, you really want to use your food processor. And I was surprised; I have a Vitamix and I've tried making nut butters in my Vitamix and it just doesn't work as well. So the secret, when you are blending, your own nut butters is to give it time. So I'm going to pulse two cups of cashews for about 10 minutes. I know that sounds crazy. And of course, Carrie's going to help us out with a little bit of a time lapse, but you're going to look for the nuts to create a pulse, the nuts to form into a ball and then it will liquefy into a nut butter. All right. 10 minutes on the clock and we are going to blend. All right. So we can see here that the cashews are starting to stick to the sides. I'm just going to pause and break those down a little bit and keep blending.
Rip Esselstyn:
Hey, Jess, what are the ingredients in this Hollandaise sauce?
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah. Great question, Rip. Hopefully you're not hearing too much of the processor behind me. So this uses two cups of cashews. We also use some silken tofu, lemon juice, mustard. Yeah, here we go. We got the recipe right here. We use salt and black salt, which gives it that kind of eggy taste and texture, cayenne pepper, white pepper, and turmeric. Really the turmeric is just for color and health purposes.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow. What color does it end up being?
Jessica Hegarty:
It's very close to a Hollandaise and you could put a lot of turmeric in it and really get very close to that bright egg yolk color. I am not the biggest fan of the flavor of turmeric. It's really something I want to accent food, not be the primary flavor. So I kept it low in this recipe. And it's a little bit more of a pale yellow Hollandaise, but to each his own.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. And so this will yield... Ooh, it's going into a ball.
Jessica Hegarty:
It's going into a ball. You can see it, right?
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
Getting close.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. So this will yield how much and how many asparagii do I need if I want to eat every last little bit of this Hollandaise sauce. 25?
Jessica Hegarty:
So, Rip, the first time I made this, I did not make enough. So this recipe and trust me, you're going to love it, yields about three cups, which is enough for Hollandaise for days. And this is intentional. We use it not just on our asparagus, but also on our other vegetables, as well over grains. We've used it on our English muffins, to make faux eggs Benedict. Oh boy, I'm looking at the asparagus cam and I actually see that ball thinned out into a nut better. Let's go check it out over here. Wait, I'm going to shut it off.
Jessica Hegarty:
And wouldn't you know it, about seven minutes in, this is really starting to form a great paste. So it's going to sound scary with the ball rolling around in there for a little bit, and then it's going to thin out and form this really great nut better. All right. So this recipe is really simple. All you had to do was push play on your food processor. And then from there you add half a block of silken tofu. You add your spices. So again, we've got a clove of garlic. We've got our turmeric, our salt, our black salt, our cayenne pepper, and our white pepper all going in there together. Oops, there we go. I'm also going to add in two tablespoons of lemon juice. Again, for those who don't have kids and are shaving their asparagus, feel free to use a fresh lemon.
Jessica Hegarty:
There we go. And I'm also going to add in our Dijon mustard. I think two teaspoons is what I have in the recipe. I like mustard. So I'm just going to kind of wing it.
Rip Esselstyn:
You know, Jess, can you hear me?
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah.
Rip Esselstyn:
You know, another thing that I read about is that you should wash your asparagus, because there's a lot of sand that can get caught in the spears.
Jessica Hegarty:
Oh, interesting.
Rip Esselstyn:
Did you read about that at all?
Jessica Hegarty:
I didn't hear about that in asparagus, but I definitely am aware of it in leeks and things like that, but I guess it makes sense. It could totally get caught in these areas up here. That's interesting. All right. So last ingredient here, I'm using my plant based milk. I've got some of that really great, oops, there we go. West Soy that's just soybeans and water. This tastes great with oat milk. If you have some of that as well. All right. There it is. We've got everything in there and I'm just going to blend this one more time and it'll be ready to enjoy.
Rip Esselstyn:
Oh.
Jessica Hegarty:
All right. So we've blended and that's looking really beautiful. Isn't it, Rip?
Rip Esselstyn:
Totally beautiful. Will you do me a favor, Jess? Will you get two of those asparagus and kind of dip them in there so I can see what it looks like on the ends? Like if I was going to take a bite. Oh, that's my finger food right there. Yes. Delicious.
Jessica Hegarty:
So, so good. And one thing that I wanted to mention, if folks look at this recipe and say two cups of cashews, I don't want to have that much nut butter. You know, again, the idea here was to recreate something that's using butter and egg yolks as the primary ingredients. So I wanted it to be really creamy. You could easily swap some of the cashews out, one for one, with additional silken tofu. I think it would be great with some creamy cannellini beans as well, or maybe even some peeled roasted kabocha squash. That would give you a really great bright egg yolk color.
Rip Esselstyn:
Or even chickpeas.
Jessica Hegarty:
Chickpeas. I even thought maybe avocado would work. So again, wanting people to feel empowered and kind of take this recipe as a baseline and make it your own.
Rip Esselstyn:
Fantastic. I love it. There it is. Oh, that is a gorgeous shot right there.
Jessica Hegarty:
Yeah. And we'll be sure to, of course, post this in the show notes for this episode as well.
Rip Esselstyn:
I do think we need to change the name for future posts from holy cow to holy kale Hollandaise.
Jessica Hegarty:
Holy kale Hollandaise.
Rip Esselstyn:
Holy kale.
Jessica Hegarty:
I love that. And you should absolutely put it on your kale.
Rip Esselstyn:
Another thing that I read about and is doing ribbons with asparagus. Do you have a way of showing me how to do that?
Jessica Hegarty:
I can, yeah. Here. So you simply take off the ends, like we talked about.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yep.
Jessica Hegarty:
With your potato peeler. All right. And once those are gone, you actually want to go from the stalk to the tip and create these really nice ribbons that you can use on your salad.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow. Yeah.
Jessica Hegarty:
Right.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. I've never done that before, but it looks really fun.
Jessica Hegarty:
And it does. And it presents really well. As you can see, here's an example of a salad with farrow and radishes and edamame. That's not something that was in my repertoire before, but I will definitely be adding some asparagus ribbons to my summer salads.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow. So Jess, before we close out this exciting episode on everything that anybody could possibly want to know about asparagus, is there anything else that you want to say or add?
Jessica Hegarty:
I don't think so. I'm just so happy to be back doing these. And you know, if folks want to have us do an episode on any particular ingredient, if there's something that you want to learn more about, please post in the comments. We are always looking for inspiration and I am happy to do the research and experimentation.
Rip Esselstyn:
Well, Jess, this has been a lot of fun. Welcome back. And I hope to see you and Evan and adorable Ellie this weekend.
Jessica Hegarty:
Oh, we would love to come crash your pool, Rip. Yeah. Let us know what day works for you. And thank you. We would love to come by.
Rip Esselstyn:
Saturday afternoon, it is then.
Jessica Hegarty:
All right. Awesome.
Rip Esselstyn:
All right. Hey, keep it Plant Strong.
Jessica Hegarty:
All right.
Rip Esselstyn:
Boom.
Jessica Hegarty:
Boom.
Speaker 3:
The Plant Strong podcast team includes Carrie Barrett, Laurie Kortowich, Ami Mackey, Patrick Gavin and Wade Clark. This season is dedicated to all of those courageous truth seekers, who weren't afraid to look through the lens with clear vision and hold firm to a higher truth. Most notably my parents, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. And Anne Crile Esselstyn. Thanks for listening.
