Roasted Asparagus with Lemon Aioli

This asparagus with lemon aioli was our whole dinner the other night.  Even for Lily.  She had frozen yogurt and snacks with my dad before her music class, so she wasn't too hungry.  In fact, once she saw the asparagus she decided that she wasn't hungry AT ALL.  But I bribed her to try it and she actually liked it!  She didn't eat a lot, but I still count it as a serving of vegetables.  Jake loved it and said that it was "restaurant quality" (haha - I guess that's a good thing, depending on the restaurant he want comparing it to).  So, we polished off the plate and called it a night.

The nice thing about this aioli is that it would be good on a lot of vegetables.  I would eat it on green beans, broccoli, or even roasted carrots or cauliflower.  And it was a snap to throw together.  Plus, I cooked the asparagus at 350, but it can go up or down a little from there as long as you keep a close eye on it, so if you have other food you need to cook, you can throw them in together.

Lemon Aioli

1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 clove garlic, finely minced 1 tablespoon chopped chives Juice and zest of 1 lemon 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Roasted Asparagus

1-2 pounds of fresh asparagus Drizzle of olive oil (about a tablespoon) Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350º.  Rinse the asparagus under water and snap the bottoms off (hold both ends and bend - it will naturally snap off).  Spread the spears out on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper.   Roll around so that the spears are fully coated and arrange them in a single layer on the pan.

Roast the asparagus, rolling around/flipping over about halfway through, for 10-15 minutes.  The thicker the asparagus, the longer it will need, so keep an eye on it.  You definitely don't want to overcook it!

Drizzle on the lemon aioli and serve warm.

Source: Aioli adapted from Food Network