Easy Roasted Asparagus

You'll never guess where I found this recipe.....Budget Bytes. I think I'm slightly addicted to that blog. It's Spring time, at least it supposed to be Spring, it's almost 100 degrees here today (bleh, Texas), and that means asparagus area in season. Jay and I love asparagus. The kids seem to be hit or miss. I tweaked this recipe a little and omitted the lemon zest. I didn't want an overpowering lemon flavor. I served them alongside salmon and a spinach salad.

1 bunch of asparagus, thoroughly washed and trimmed

Olive oil

1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Salt

Pepper

Lemon

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Place cleaned, trimmed asparagus on foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Add crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and the 1-2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice. Toss to coat. Place asparagus in a single layer.

3. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip with spatula and cook for another 10 minutes or until tender.

Review - Fast, easy, delicious. What more could you ask for?

Oven Roasted Parsnips

I've come to realize that a lot of people don't know what parsnips are or how to cook them. I actually only learned what they were a few years ago. I had a very kind coworker give me a bag of homegrown parsnips (and a bag of trout, but that's another story) with the instruction "Roast them." So I did. And they were delicious. 

These are parsnips. Unwashed and unpeeled.

Washed, peeled, and cut lengthwise into sticks

Finished product

Preheat oven to 400. Wash, peel and cut up parsnips. Place parsnips in plastic ziploc bag or plastic container with a lid. Drizzle with olive oil. Shake until parsnips are well coated. Place parsnips on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 20 minutes or until parsnips begin to turn golden brown, turning once halfway through.

This picture was stuck in between my parsnip pictures. Three year old got ahold of my camera.

Review - We really enjoy this side dish. Josie (3) loves them. We used parsnips as a bargaining tool to get her to eat her salmon, a bite of salmon for another parsnip. It worked. Parsnips are really sweet and would also roast well with potatoes and carrots.