I know that I have said it before but, my favorite way of cooking a lot of vegetables is by roasting them and asparagus is no different. Roasting the asparagus seems to concentrate its flavour while at the same time making it nice and tender. Thinner asparagus will roast up very quickly but thicker asparagus can take its time. Once you have the asparagus roasted, it is easy to add flavours from simple to more complex and one of my favorite ways of dressing up roasted asparagus is to toss it in a home made vinaigrette. Recently, I have been into grainy mustard and the first thing that came to mind for this roasted asparagus was a maple dijon vinaigrette with a healthy dose of grainy mustard. The maple dijon vinaigrette pairs particularly well with asparagus as the juicy asparagus can easy cut through the intense flavours of the dressing balancing everything out perfectly.
Maple Dijon Roasted Asparagus
ingredients
- 2 pounds asparagus (trimmed and cleaned)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
- 1 small clove garlic (grated)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup almond slices (toasted, optional)
directions
- Toss the asparagus in the oil, salt and pepper.
- Arrange the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Roast in a preheated 400F/200C oven until tender, about 10-30 minutes. (Note: Roasting time can vary greatly depending on how thick your asparagus is.)
- Mix the oil, vinegar, maple syrup, mustards, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Toss the asparagus in the maple dijon vinaigrette and serve garnished with the almond slices.
Jennifer says
May 20, 2010 at 1:37 amThis is genius!!! cant wait to make!
Belinda @zomppa says
May 20, 2010 at 2:15 amLove this great use of asparagus!
Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) says
May 20, 2010 at 3:13 amlove the roasted asparagus…lovely pics
MeetaK says
May 20, 2010 at 8:48 amthat dijon maple dressing sounds really good over the asparagus just perfect!
l_eberly says
May 20, 2010 at 4:39 pmKevin – what brand of grainy mustard do you recommend?
RamblingTart says
May 20, 2010 at 9:49 pmOh my, I'm on such an asparagus kick this week. 🙂 But I'm still not sick of it and this vinaigrette sounds amazing. Can't wait to try it!!
Jessica says
May 22, 2010 at 7:29 pmYou can't go wrong roasting asparagus! I like the mustard idea…I usually just use butter and garlic.
jessyburke88@gmail.com
Kevin says
May 23, 2010 at 3:31 pml_eberly: If you are in Toronto, I recommend Kozlik's, otherwise I tend to use Maille.
eatme_delicious says
May 28, 2010 at 9:05 pmLOVE maple, dijon and asparagus. And I agree that roasting vegetables is the best way to cook them. This looks so good!
Raol says
June 17, 2010 at 5:09 amKevin – I've tried to make my own dijon mustard at home, but it came out quite bitter. I let it stand for a couple of days, but still no luck 🙁
Do you have a recipe for this ? i used powdered & sieved yellow mustard the last time.
Thanks!
Kevin says
June 19, 2010 at 7:33 pmRaol: I have not tried to make my own mustard yet. I guess I am spoiled with a great mustard maker here in Toronto. Making you own sounds like fun though and I will have to try it some day soon.