Oven Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

Oven Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

You will be licking your plate!

I never buy fresh asparagus. I love eating asparagus, but preparing it from scratch always seemed scary. In a bout of "must eat healthy" shopping, I picked up a bunch, put it in my fridge and put off figuring out how to prepare it. Feeling inspired one afternoon, I grabbed the asparagus and started to throw together a meal. 

I scoured my shelves for things that could go with the asparagus and found a forgotten bottle of balsamic vinegar. This sparked the idea for the sauce and suddenly I was looking forward to making the once-scary asparagus.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Serves: 1 

You will need aluminum foil, a microwave and an oven. As always, I used my toaster oven instead.

Ingredients:

1/2 bunch of fresh asparagus, rinsed 

garlic powder

onion powder

ground black pepper

Cajun seasoning (optional)

cooking spray

2 tbsp butter (give or take)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (give or take)

Directions:

Set oven to 400 degrees.

I cut about an inch off the blunt ends off of the asparagus because it just doesn't look appetizing. 

Lay aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray. Line asparagus on foil. All pieces should be equally exposed. Spray asparagus with cooking spray. Sprinkle with garlic, onion, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Sprinkle as much, or as little, as you like to suit your tastes. I used a good portion of garlic powder and only a little Cajun so the asparagus would "brown" on top.

Bake asparagus for 25-30 minutes. When the asparagus is almost finished, place butter in a microwave safe dish and heat until just melted. Mix in balsamic vinegar and adjust to taste.

When asparagus is tender remove from oven. Place on a plate or in a bowl. You may either pick up the asparagus like fries and dip in the butter sauce or drizzle the sauce over the asparagus. Either way, if you are like me, you will be licking the plate when all asparagus is gone.