Sous Vide Asparagus Poached in Chicken Stock with Saffron Recipe

A Healthy Sous Vide Asparagus Recipe

The Sous Vide cooking technique is unlike any other.  Much is published about this technique for perfectly finished steaks. However, not enough is published about using the sous vide for vegetable dishes. This holds true for asparagus. No other technique cooks asparagus like the sous vide. The sous vide provides conditions where the asparagus poaches in its own juices as it cooks, and doesn't let flavor escape like steaming and grilling. It also cooks the perfect asparagus from end to end; the tips aren't soggy and the ends aren't tough.

A Light and Flavorful Vegetable Dish for Spring and Summer

While a handful of sous vide asparagus recipes can be found on the Internet, almost all of them involve poaching the vegetable in butter, olive oil, or cream. Our recipe is a healthy alternative. We eliminate these calorie-heavy fatty ingredients without sacrificing taste.  Take butter for example. Although butter makes everything taste great, our recipe swap calories from the butter (3Tbsp = 306 cal.) for a much reduced chicken stock and saffron calorie count (12 cal.). This light dish is not only great as a side for a steak dinner, it also pairs perfectly with poached eggs in the morning.
 

Quickly Get your Sous Vide Water to Temp

The water temperature (185°f / 85°c) for this recipe is much higher than many other sous vide recipes, and the wait time for the bath to get to temperature can be as long as 45 minutes. To speed things up, fill the sous vide water container to the minimum water level and slowly add boiling water you've prepared from another source (such as a stove or microwave). This can reduce the Sous Vide bath wait time to 20 minutes or less.

 Feature photo by Stephanie Studer