Roasted Asparagus | Creme De La Crumb

Although making Roasted Asparagus might seem intimidating at first, don’t worry it’s not hard at all! It’s as simple as trim, lay on a sheet pan, sprinkle in olive oil and tasty spices, and perhaps throw in a dash of cheese and bake! 

If you can’t get enough roasted vegetables, then you’re in for a treat, as all of these are a hit and I know you’re going to love them too: Crispy Parmesan Green Beans, Lemon Parmesan Roasted Asparagus, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan and Balsamic. 

Welp, here we are again folks: a new year. A new year, and lots of promises (mostly empty) to get in shape, eat better, etc. etc. Now, while I generally don’t make promises I know I can’t keep (even to myself), one I have made is to eat more vegetables. I figured this is pretty easy to do. So I’m not saying to myself “eat less cheese and bread” because that would be ridiculous. Including more healthy foods I figure will eventually nudge the bad ones out, right? One can hope. 

It is with this in mind that I decided to experiment with some more roasted vegetables. They are super simple to make, healthy, and taste so, so good, you’ll wonder why you never thought to roast them before. Take asparagus for instance. It looks rather intimidating at the store, and perhaps even exotic to the vegetable teetotallers. But really, the work is all done for you right there in its grown form. No shelling, no cutting off bad parts, no taking off of skin. At most you’ll want to cut off the harder ends. At best, you don’t cut those off and either decide you like to eat them, spit them out, or cut them off after the bake. No matter which way you choose, you can’t lose with this healthy asparagus recipe! 

HOW DO YOU MAKE ROASTED ASPARAGUS?

I know I said this is an easy recipe, but I’ll explain just how easy here (I mean, “preheat the oven” is a step. I don’t think that even should count.) 

Okay so preheat the oven. Trim the flat sides of the asparagus off. Drizzle the stalks in olive oil and roll them around in it a bit to get them coated on all sides. Next, sprinkle with pepper, salt, grated parmesan, and garlic powder. (Those last two ingredients are totally optional, too!) 

Pop them in the oven for 15-18 minutes and squeeze lemon juice over the top after you pull them out of the oven when they are done. Ta da! 

Easy asparagus recipe: Shortest. Directions. Ever. 

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR COOKING ASPARAGUS

• You don’t have to trim your asparagus. It’s perfectly fine to eat the ends, but they will be tough. 
• If you do want to trim the asparagus, you can use a couple different methods. First, you can line all the asparagus up together so that all the flat ends meet up and cut up about an inch or so from the bottom on all of them at once. Or, if you want to be more precise, you can take one stalk and bend it toward the bottom. It will snap off naturally where the tough end begins. Line that shortened stalk with the others and cut to that same spot. 
• I like to wash off all of my vegetables before cooking with them or eating them raw. I recommend you do this for your roasted asparagus too, but not until you are just about to cook it. If you wash it off too soon and put it back in the fridge, it will start to decompose faster. I rinse it under running water and then lay them all on a towel to pat dry before preparing and roasting.  
• Yes, you can eat asparagus raw. I think it’s too bitter but you won’t be poisoned or anything. 

HOW DO YOU BUY ASPARAGUS?

You’ll want to choose your asparagus much like you choose other veggies. You want to make sure it looks dark green, crisp, and, in the case of asparagus, with smooth, straight stalks. You want the tips to be closed tightly and free of brown or mushy spots. If one of the stalks is bad, that’s okay you can just discard that one when you get home. But if several aren’t looking good, pass on that bunch, it’s been sitting out in the produce department for too long. 

Another tip in buying asparagus is to make sure the ends are moist too. If they are super dry, then they are getting old. You’ll also want to stay away from really thick stalks or bunches made of a lot of thick stalks as those tend to be more tough and bitter. 

HOW DO YOU STORE ASPARAGUS?

I like to store my asparagus similarly to how they present it at the store: typically in an ice bath or in water. Why? Well, because these stalks need water to stay hydrated, straight, and green, just like you want them to be. 

One easy way to store asparagus is to put the ends into water, upright in a mason jar. I then put a plastic bag lightly over the tops of them and store the asparagus, jar and all, in the fridge. You could also wrap the ends of the stalks in a damp paper towel and then lightly place in a loosely sealed bag. 

Okay so a show of hands, who is on board for trying this unique asparagus recipe?