Oven-roasted asparagus recipes are one of the simplest veggie meals, and we could use more GREEN in our dinner arsenal. One of my favourite ways to prepare veggies, including the beautiful green asparagus, is to roast them. To begin, cooking the asparagus couldn’t be simpler. Second, compared to steaming, roasting yields much more taste. Third, it’s a quick meal that can go from the refrigerator to the table in under a dozen minutes.
Fourth, it’s versatile enough to be utilised as a main course or a component of a variety of other salads and side dishes.
Absolutely no reasonable person would disagree with it.
The key to enjoying asparagus is to not overthink it.
How To Make Roasted Asparagus Recipes
Turn on oven temperature to 425 degrees.
After giving it a good scrub, stack a few stalks of asparagus and cut off the lowest inch or two of the thick, woody base.
Place the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet with a rim. Make sure it’s dry, since you don’t want the asparagus to “steam.”
To begin, drizzle olive oil liberally over the asparagus and then liberally season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Ten minutes in the oven at 400 degrees will do the trick for roasting the asparagus. The key is to have a hot oven, just high enough to start browning the asparagus on the outside without cooking it through to the point where it becomes limp. The cooked asparagus should still have a bit of a crunch. Enjoy!
How To Roast Asparagus
When roasted, asparagus requires very little effort and cooks in a flash.
Just before serving, give your prepped asparagus a quick toss in a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. To facilitate cleanup, I recommend doing this on a big, rimmed baking sheet (affiliate link) covered in parchment paper.
Depending on the thickness of your asparagus, bake it until a fork may easily penetrate it. Asparagus spears of this pencil-thin thickness may be cooked in as little as 10 minutes. It takes around 15–20 minutes longer to cook asparagus that is a little thicker. These specifics are included in the recipe that follows.
How to Season It Before Making Roasted Asparagus Recipes
Some suggestions for seasoning your grilled asparagus. Keep things simple by settling on only one or two options. Or, you may go all-in as I did and use the aforementioned four suggestions.
- Zest of lemon and/or lemon slices
- Grated Parmesan cheese is sprinkled on top.
- Finely cut fresh mint or parsley, about a thumb’s worth
- A pinch of crushed red pepper
- Some butter, maybe two pats
- Drizzle with balsamic reduction or use balsamic vinegar that has been reduced to a syrupy consistency.
- Almonds, sliced and toasted.
Ingredients You Will Need To Make Roasted Asparagus Recipes
Choose fresh asparagus stalks that are firm and with tips that are closed securely. Although asparagus is accessible year-round, its peak quality is during the spring when it is at its peak. You merely need to modify the cooking time depending on the thickness you want (see below for roasted asparagus cook times). Typically, one bunch of asparagus weighs around a pound, but bear in mind that the weight will decrease after being trimmed for this dish.
Oil, preferably olive oil, is essential for achieving a golden crust and a flavorful finish when roasting vegetables. Pick additional virgin olive oil if you want a robust flavour, or use normal olive oil and avocado oil for a more subtle one.
A dash of garlic powder is totally unnecessary but provides a lot of flavour. Adding fresh minced garlic is not advised since it easily burns, but if you insist, do it during the last minutes of cooking.
Black pepper and sea salt; if you just have kosher salt, it will work too.
How to Trim Asparagus
You’ll understand what I’m talking about if you’ve ever had the (dis)pleasure of biting into a rough, woody asparagus tip. No one wants anything stringy, chewy, and potentially choking.
Since every bunch of asparagus is somewhat unique, the precise amount that needs to be snipped from the ends of each spear will vary.
Asparagus may be bent (or snapped) around its base to determine its length, eliminating the need for guesswork and slicing off the ends. Asparagus is known to snap precisely where it needs to. This may be a major setback when asparagus is out of season or if you have a particularly nasty bunch.
Health Benefits Of Eating Asparagus
Advantages to Health
Protection of the Heart
Many studies have shown that eating asparagus is beneficial for your heart. The vitamin K in asparagus, Flores said, “helps blood coagulate.” In addition, the Harvard School of Public Health reports that an excess of the amino acid homocysteine is a major risk factor in cardiovascular disease, and that the vegetable’s high B vitamin content helps manage homocysteine levels.
Additionally, the amino acid asparagine in asparagus aids in the removal of excess salt from the body, and its high soluble fibre content (more than 1 gramme per cup) reduces the danger of cardiovascular disease. Finally, asparagus’s strong antioxidant content and potent anti-inflammatory properties may make it useful in lowering cardiovascular disease danger.
Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels
People with low blood sugar should use vitamin B6 with care, as noted by the Mayo Clinic. Asparagus’s capacity to control it is most useful for individuals who already have normal levels.
Reducing exposure to potential type 2 diabetes
Too much oxidative stress and inflammation increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, just as they do for cardiovascular disease. Asparagus is a wonderful preventative meal due to its high antioxidant content and potent anti-inflammatory capabilities. Asparagus has been shown to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes in a 2011 research published in the British Journal of Nutrition by enhancing insulin production and beta-cell activity.
Pancreatic beta cells are special because they are the only ones responsible for producing, storing, and secreting insulin.
Advantages against ageing
According to a 1998 report published in The Lancet, the antioxidant glutathione may delay the onset of ageing. The asparagus you eat will help you keep your brain sharp because of the B12 and folate it supplies. According to research conducted at Tufts University, older persons whose blood levels of folate and B12 were within the normal range had faster reaction times and more mental flexibility on a test of these variables than those whose levels were below the norm.
Skin
Glutathione’s remarkable properties as an antioxidant extend to its ability to shield the skin from UV radiation and environmental pollutants. Clinical, Cosmetic, and Investigational Dermatology published a pilot research in 2014 on healthy adult females between the ages of 30 and 50 who used either a glutathione lotion or a placebo lotion on half of their faces for 10 weeks. The glutathione group’s skin was more hydrated, less wrinkly, and smoother. Eating glutathione-rich foods like asparagus may have a comparable impact, although this has not been tested.