How to Roast Asparagus

Yes, spring is here! I was quite excited to spot these bright flowers along my walk several days.

I thought that there was no better way to welcome spring than to prepare a dish that featured a spring vegetable–asparagus. My favorite way to enjoy asparagus is to sauté them in a bit of olive oil and season them with some salt and dried herbs. I was looking for new ways to cook asparagus and found that I could roast them! I feel like a kitchen virgin when I say this, but I had never roasted asparagus before. Using this recipe from Wishful Chef as a guide, I quickly learned that I actually prefer roasted asparagus.

Sautéing whole stalks of asparagus has been quite challenging for me at times. I don’t use too much oil when I cook over the stove, so my sauté pan always dries out, causing the asparagus to start burning. When I add a bit of water to the pan, the asparagus would become overcooked and lose its natural crunch. I also find that the asparagus stalks close to the bottom of the pan would be cooked sooner than the ones on the top. There are so many things to keep track of when all I want are crisp, juicy asparagus spears!

The asparagus that I roasted yesterday, however, were perfect! Roasting allows me to spread all the spears out in a single layer, so they all cook evenly at the same time. Also, the total roasting time was only 10 minutes! I enjoyed these roasted asparagus spears with the creamy cilantro-lime sauce that I made the day before.

Roasted Asparagus with Creamy Cilantro-Lime Sauce
(Adapted from Wishful Chef)
Makes 3-4 Servings
Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cooking Time: 8-10 Minutes

Ingredients (For Roasted Asparagus)

• 1 pound of asparagus (usually, a bunch is about a pound)
• 1 1/2 TBS olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• dash of salt

Ingredients (For Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce)

• 1 bunch fresh cilantro (about 1 to 1 1/2 cup)
• 3/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 TBS lime juice
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (218°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
2. Wash the asparagus and snap or chop off the bottoms of the stalks.
3. In a large bowl, toss in the olive oil and mix well.
4. Spread the asparagus on the baking sheet in a single layer and sprinkle garlic powder, oregano, and a tiny bit of salt on the asparagus.
5. Bake for about 8-10 minutes.
6. While the asparagus spears are cooking, prepare the creamy cilantro-lime sauce.
7. Rinse the cilantro and chop off the bottoms. It is fine to leave some of the stem in tact.
8. Add all ingredients into a food processor or blender and mix until well incorporated.
9. Remove the asparagus from the oven once they look tender. When they are slightly cool, drizzle on the creamy cilantro-lime sauce.

Note

• The recipe from Wishful Chef called for freshly minced garlic. I decided to used garlic powder instead because I was worried that the heat might burn the minced garlic.