A whole month dedicated to my favorite vegetable! I always knew that May was when I could expect to find fresh asparagus picked at local farms. I did not know that some strange powers that be dedicated a whole month to it. Kind of weird but I’ll share a recipe that is my new favorite way to make asparagus.
Balsamic & Carmelized Onions Asparagus
olive oil
salt & pepper
1 pound of asparagus
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced (I recommend slicing & then cutting the rings in half)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
crumbled blue cheese
1. Preheat oven to 425. Clean your asparagus, cut off the woody ends and toss lightly in olive oil with a bit of kosher salt & black pepper and lay them out in a single layer on a cooking sheet. (Tip: I lay foil down on the baking sheet to make clean-up easier.)
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. While the oven is preheating add your onion slices and saute. This will take at least 10 minutes because you want them nice and caramelized, maybe even a little crispy on some edges. Stay at the stove and move them around regularly.
3. When the oven is preheated slide the tray of asparagus in for 9 minutes – a minute longer if the stems are thick.
4. Your onions should be nice and brown and caramalized and delicious by the time your asparagus is ready. Turn off the heat on your skillet, add one tablespoon of balsamic to the pan and stir it around. Pull the asparagus out of the oven and immediately top with the balsamic vinegar/onion mixture. Toss it around and then toss with the crumbled blue cheese. How much blue cheese? As much as you like but at least 1-2 tablespoons.
Note: If you have a bottle of really good balsamic this is a recipe where you’ll notice the difference since you add it right at the end. This turned out so well that the second time I made it, I made two pounds of asparagus and every piece was eaten. So yummy! And now that I think about it…. I bet some crumbled bacon tossed in with the blue cheese would be a nice addition too.
In conclusion, go get some fresh asparagus and make this for dinner.