A couple of easy steps and 4 simple ingredients is all is takes to make asparagus shine. How to Roast Asparagus is a basic and yet delicious recipe for this Spring and Summer vegetable.
I love using asparagus all Spring and Summer long. It’s SO easy and quick to make which allows me to get dinner on the table – fast.
While I have a couple of “tricks” up my sleeve to get my kids onboard with eating asparagus, there’s nothing like exposure and trying it every time it’s served to get the acquired taste buds going. My girls are still quite young (two 5 year olds and a 3 year old respectively) – so still in that very picky eating stage, BUT cooking controversial vegetables properly makes all the difference.
This How to Roast Asparagus recipe is all about how to nail the cooking techniques, how to store asparagus, and even how to buy it so that the asparagus that shows up on the dinner table looking AND tasting its best.
How to trim asparagus:
This topic could be argued from many different angles. Since we’re all busy and don’t have time to use a vegetable peeler on every single stalk, I sit firmly in the camp that asparagus needs a quick snap towards the bottom of the stalk. See photo above to get a general idea. The asparagus stalk will naturally snap at its weakest point.
How to roast asparagus:
When roasted, asparagus is simply rinsed with water, trimmed (see above) and placed on the grill or in a preheated oven for approximately 8 minutes (less if stalks are thin and more if stalks are super thick).
There’s no need to even use a pan when roasting asparagus. Simply rinse, trim, and place (carefully) on the rack in a preheated oven.
How to buy asparagus:
Look for stalks of similar size with closed buds on top and bright green colouring. Avoid limp stalks of asparagus and any with buds that appear to be moist or have their buds opening up. Asparagus should be standing up right in the grocery store with bottom ends in ice or cold water to keep fresh.
I prefer thicker stalks as they roast more uniformly and have a more woodsy flavour when roasted.
How to store asparagus:
Asparagus does better when its root-ends are in cold water. I place my asparagus upright in a glass with a small amount of fresh water. This allows the asparagus to last for up to 1 week in the fridge.
If I lay the asparagus down flat without water I find it won’t last as long and I need to use it within a couple of days of purchasing. And since I strongly dislike going to the grocery store every day, I need tips like this one to keep my fruits and veggies fresh longer.
What to serve with asparagus:
Asparagus’ favourite friends include: olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, eggs, parmesan cheese, lemon, and butter.
We love these asparagus recipes too:
- Parmesan Panko Crusted Asparagus
- Crispy Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
- Chorizo, Asparagus, and Goat’s Cheese Pizza
- Sheet Pan Salmon with Lentils and Asparagus
- Asparagus and Spinach Frittata
How to get kids to eat asparagus:
- Exposure. If they never try it and they don’t keep trying it, they will never like it.
- 2 full bites (or in our case we did 1 full stalk) chewed, swallowed, and then an easy vegetable replacement would be offered (i.e. frozen peas). Every time we serve asparagus.
- “Asparagus Sauce”. This is not a real thing, but rather balsamic reduction used like ketchup for asparagus. My kids will eat an entire bunch of asparagus when balsamic reduction is involved.
- Cut it up. This Orzo Pasta Salad has asparagus in small coins so that they blend into the recipe and more palatable to kids. Not necessarily hiding it, but making it easy to get used to.
- Serve it first and cut down on snacks. When my kids are hungry they’ll pretty much eat anything that is offered to them first at the dinner table.
A couple of easy steps and 4 simple ingredients is all is takes to make asparagus shine. How to Roast Asparagus is a basic and yet delicious recipe for this Spring and Summer vegetable.
- 1 pound asparagus , approx. 1 bunch
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pinch kosher salt , or flaky sea salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
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Preheat oven or gril to 400° F.
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Trim* and rinse asparagus. Place directly on oven rack or grill and roasted for 8 minutes**.
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Remove from oven, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
* see blog post on how to trim asparagus
** medium thicker stalks will take exactly 8 minutes at 400° F. Thinner stalks will take 1-2 minutes less and extremely thick stalks will take 9-10 minutes in total.
Enjoy! xo
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