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.
This is genius!!! cant wait to make!
Love this great use of asparagus!
love the roasted asparagus…lovely pics
that dijon maple dressing sounds really good over the asparagus just perfect!
Kevin – what brand of grainy mustard do you recommend?
Oh 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!!
You can't go wrong roasting asparagus! I like the mustard idea…I usually just use butter and garlic.
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l_eberly: If you are in Toronto, I recommend Kozlik's, otherwise I tend to use Maille.
LOVE maple, dijon and asparagus. And I agree that roasting vegetables is the best way to cook them. This looks so good!
Kevin – 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!
Raol: 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.