Roasted Asparagus

by | Apr 9, 2018 | About The Food We Eat, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Roasted asparagus with lemon zest and slices of lemon at the center, on a plate.
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Roasted Asparagus Screams Spring Is Here!

Spring has sprung!  Warmer weather is quickly replacing the gray of winter, giving us a colorful landscape of flowering trees, green grass, and budding rose bushes.

And we can see it in the grocery store.  One vegetable that screams spring is here is asparagus.

From the farmer’s markets to the produce sections of the big box grocery stores, this lovely vegetable is waiting to be enjoyed on your dinner table.

Cultivation of asparagus dates back 2,000 years ago and is a native of the eastern Meditteranean region.

Cultivation of Asparagus is Three Years From Seed To Harvest

According to Modern Farmer, a lot of time goes into growing this little beauty – three years from seed to harvest.  Asparagus is one of the three vegetables common in North American cuisine that comes from a perennial plant, the other two are artichokes and rhubarb.

This delicious spring vegetable is packed with nutritional value and is also known to be a great brain booster to help protect against cognitive decline.

With all those benefits who couldn’t use more asparagus in their diet?

Roasted Asparagus Cooks In A Flash

It’s another favorite of mine, tasty, versatile, and more importantly easy to prepare.  You can blanche it, steam it, grill it, or sauté it.  Try it roasted.  It needs just a little bit of prep to take off the woody ends, a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkling of kosher salt and then into a really hot oven for just a few minutes.  When it comes out finish it with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.  Yum.  I can taste it right now!

So next time someone says eat more green vegetables, fear not!  This is definitely one of the simplest, easiest, and tastiest ways to make that happen!

 

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Roasted Asparagus

Roasted Asparagus
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4 from 2 reviews

Roasted asparagus cooks in a flash and is easy to prep. It makes an elegant presentation, and looks like you slaved in the kitchen (not!).

  • Prep Time: 0 hours
  • Cook Time: 0 hours
  • Total Time: 0 hours
  • Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 bundle of asparagus
  • 1 lemon
  • Olive oil
  • Kosher salt

Garnish

  • 1 lemon, zested
  • Himalayan salt

Instructions

  1. Heat your oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Take one asparagus and bend the stalk until it snaps. Discard the end that snaps. Repeat with each asparagus or just take your knife and remove the woody ends from the rest of the asparagus using the snapped asparagus as your guide.
  3. Lightly drizzle some olive oil on a sheet tray that is large enough to hold your bundle of asapargus in a single layer.
  4. Lay the asparagus on the tray and gently roll the stalks to coat them in the olive oil.
  5. Sprinkle with a light dusting of kosher salt.
  6. Place in heated oven for 5 minutes. Check after 5 minutes.
  7. If you’re stalks are thin, this may be all the heat they need. They should be tender, and bright green.
  8. Set for an additional 5 minutes, if they aren’t quite tender. Watch the time carefully as they will over-roast in a flash.
  9. Remove from the oven and plate. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
  10. Garnish with the zest of the lemon and Himalayan salt.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 13.18 kcal
  • Sugar: 0.8 g
  • Sodium: 77.78 mg
  • Fat: 0.54 g
  • Saturated Fat: 0.07 g
  • Trans Fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 2.86 g
  • Fiber: 0.9 g
  • Protein: 0.41 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg
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