I am an anomaly. I love vegetables. I dislike sweets with a passion. My family jokes that they should stick candles in a salad for my birthday; I don’t know why they haven’t because I’m always the only one who doesn’t eat my birthday cake. When everyone else is hungover they say that they crave greasy food. When I am hungover or sick I crave fresh food. Weird, I know.
So, there is nothing that makes my mouth water like a homemade side dish made with fresh ingredients. I was planning to make this side to go with a delicious ribeye steak, but the holidays took their toll and I ended up making it to pick at all on its own for dinner. I was not disappointed.
Disclaimer: I have not always LOVED asparagus, and I really only like it when its almost cooked to death. I’m not a fan of crunchy asparagus. If you are anti-asparagus I seriously urge you to give this recipe a try. I PROMISE that it will at least make you think twice, and possibly even make you switch sides!
For fresh produce you will need asparagus, cherry tomatoes (tip: for an even bigger burst of color use heirloom tomatoes), and an onion. If you are (willing) and able to buy a block of Parmesan and shred it yourself, you will not be sorry- but pre-shredded works just fine. I would suggest bagged over jarred because it seems to melt a little nicer, but as long as you don’t use the powdered stuff, you’re good. You’ll also need minced garlic, salt and pepper.
To trim the asparagus, just chop off the thick and woody ends (like you might with celery), but make sure to leave the “tree tops” as I call them. Depending on the size of your tomatoes and how you typically like them, either halve or quarter them. I happen to really enjoy onions, so I just slice them. If you’re not a fan of large pieces of onion then I would either dice or chop them. Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil on a sheet pan, drop the asparagus and tomatoes on, and add about another tablespoon of olive oil on top along with the garlic, salt and pepper. With tongs, mix everything together so that the olive oil coats all sides. Sprinkle the parmesan on last, making sure that you cover everything evenly and not too generously. Remember, we are eating food, not cheese (bummer, I know).
This sheet of colorful goodness will bake at 450 F for about 20 minutes. There’s really no rhyme or reason to the timing; if you like the vegetables to still be crunchy then maybe just 10-15 minutes will be fine for you. If you want everything to be a soggy, melt in your mouth masterpiece then heck- go for 25-30 minutes (keep an eye on it so you don’t burn anything!). For me, 20 minutes gave me tomatoes bursting with that roasted flavor, asparagus that had literally soaked in all of the flavors we added, and perfectly translucent strands of onions. Let’s not forget about the toasted Parmesan that gave this side a serious upgrade. Although my boyfriend still won’t eat asparagus. I could cover it in cheese and bacon and he still wouldn’t like it (OH THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN EXPERIMENT!). Oh well, more for me.
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Serves: 4
- Asparagus, 8 oz., trimmed
- Cherry Tomatoes, 1 pint, halved
- ¼ medium Sweet Onion, sliced
- Parmesan Cheese, ¼ cup, shredded
- 1 tsp. Garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. Salt
- ½ tsp. Peper
- Toss asparagus, tomatoes and onions in olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet.
- Add garlic, salt and pepper and mix everything together
- Add the Parmesan cheese on top, evenly
- Bake at 450 F for approximately 20 minutes