As promised I am going to be sharing some of my favorite “green” recipes the next few days in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
Truth be told, I am not a big fan of St. Patrick’s Day. In fact I have even been known to NOT wear green on St. Patrick’s Day – even though it is my favorite color!
Growing up I was NOT a fan of green foods. In fact, the only green food I ate was green beans – out of a can!
As I have gotten older my green food repertoire has definitely expanded. We have a rule at our dinner table that there must be at least one green food on your plate!
Today’s green recipe is for asparagus – one of my favorite vegetables. I love it because it is so easy to prepare. It can be ready to go in less than fifteen minutes!
I am a little picky about my asparagus – it has to be thin. I do not like the big, thick, woody stalks.
I have tried lots of different asparagus recipes but I always come back to this one. It comes from one of my favorite Food Network stars – Ina Garten the Barefoot Contessa.
Like I said, it is easy to prepare.
Step One: Cut off an inch or so from the bottom of the stalks
Step Two: Lay in a single layer on a cookie sheet
Step Three: Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.
Step Four: Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. This will depends on the thickness of your asparagus. I have had it cook as quickly as five minutes. You do not want mushy asparagus. You want it tender but not mushy! Can you tell I don’t like mushy!!
Step Five: Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and return to oven for a minute so that cheese melts.
Step Six: Place on a pretty plate and serve. Enjoy!
Do you have a favorite way to prepare asparagus? I’m always looking for new recipes to try!
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I just did asparagus with kosher salt and pepper, never thought of parmesan, I’m trying that tonight!
Love it.. my fav way also.
I originally got my asparagus recipe out of the South Beach Diet Book (minus the cheese). A friend told me how AWESOME the roasted veggies were.. and I thought, it’s asparagus..how awesome can it be?
Well, I was wrong, they are that AWESOME!
The Cheese makes it even more so!!
Here’s a recipe we enjoy from “Eating for Excellence,” Sheri Rose Shepherd
Italian Asparagus
1 lb asparagus
3 TBSP olive oil
6 large mushrooms, sliced
1/3 c. roasted red pepper, julienned
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 TBSP honey
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Blanch asparagus for 3 to 5 mins, then drain. Place 1 TBSP olive oil in a small skillet and place over medium high heat. Saute mushrooms, red pepper and garlic until just tender Add to asparagus.
In a small bowl, combine 2 TBSP olive oil, 3 TBSP red wine vinegar and 1 TBSP honey. Whisk together, then pour over asparagus mixture and toss thoroughly. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Serve @ room temperature or chill one hour before serving.
Thanks for always sharing great recipes!
Thanks Leigh Anne and Karen too for sharing recipes with asparagus–one of my favorites. We knew the asparagus was on (we lived out in the country) when the city folk were out on our ditch banks picking the asparagus. Both of these are in my “to try” file.
I love asparagus! We do ours as a side dish just like yours, except we swap garlic powder and basil in for the cheese. My blog also has quite a few pasta-based dishes where we enjoy asparagus.
You must be psychic. I just bought asparagus and was looking around for a recipe exactly like this with the Parmesan. I’ve had it before but didn’t save the recipe. I’m so glad you shared this! It’s a keeper.
Yummy! I love roasted asparagus. My recipe is slightly different. It adds my favorite ingredient, garlic.
basic roasted Asparagus
1 pound asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 425°.
Snap off tough ends of asparagus. Place in a jelly-roll pan. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar; sprinkle with salt, garlic, and pepper, tossing to coat. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes, turning once. I usually top with parmesean.
Love the roasted veggies: i tend to chop asparagus, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers and roast them all together (or grill them YUM!) and then top with parm. cheese.
Another fave: Roast the aspargus as you normally would but drizzle with a garlic-balsamic vinegar dressing
this is my favorite, I make it the exact same way other than adding a squeeze of fresh lemon!! Best vegetable ever!
my husband is the same way about st pattys day and I love it, guess it is the Irish in me!
That looks DELICIOUS!!!
You are so good to me! I needed a new recipe I could eat on my diet.
Thanks, I’ll be eating it tonight while the kids eat pizza.
I love asparagus. I just like to eat it anyway possible- except pickled. I am not a fan of pickled asparagus.
This looks great! I have a big bag of asparagus from Costco–so I will definetly give this one a try. My favorite asparagus recipe is one my sister shared on our recipe blog sisterscafe.blogspot.com It is roasted and then drizzled with a butter/balsamic/soy sauce. IT si amazing!! MMM Thanks for sharing your favorite!
I must admit that I’ve never made asparagus for my family. The first time I tasted it (years ago) it was tough and stringy, so I’ve never had it again.
This looks so yummy though, I think I need to give it a second chance. Now that I know to pick the thin stalks, it should be much better-thanks for the tip.
Thanks Leigh Anne! Asparagus is one of few veggies I like, but I’ve only had it at restaurants or other people’s houses because I never knew how to cook it…you know..standing it up in a special pot?? This is a fabulous receipe and I am so excited to try it and have one vegetable in my life that I enjoy!
Oooooh, I’m going to try this – I’m a veggie lover, but most of my family is not. So I’ve never made asparagus. I had them at a baby shower YEARS ago and LOVED them (I think that’s the only time I’ve even eaten them)
This looks simple and delicious!!
Thanks!
TidyMom