Asparagus with Toasted nuts

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) (Z2 if you leave off the nuts) recipe. Interesting side dishes are always a challenge. Timing the side dishes to come out and be warm when served can also be a challenge. I am offering up this idea for an asparagus side dish because asparagus tastes good at any temperature. I will try to serve this warm but if it begins to cool off before dinner is actually ready it won’t be a big issue.

The red and green is festive. And the toasted nuts make this a rustic, winter dish.

Servings: Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches of asparagus. I try to get younger asparagus if I can. If I get young I don’t do anything to peel it. if it’s older asparagus I peel off the pokey parts with a vegetable peeler. Just go against the grain with your peeler and they will come right off. With both kinds of asparagus I cut off the woody ends (maybe the last two inches) where the color changes and I dispose of those.
• 1 large red, bell pepper cut into dice. When you cut into the pepper be sure to cut off the white portions. Those are bitter.
• olive oil
• ½ cup of chopped nuts. You can make this walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts or even salted peanuts. May favorite is the walnuts or the peanuts in the summer.
• grated sea salt and pepper
• A dusting of cayenne (optional) I like a little zip in my veggie sides so I often dust them with just a scant bit of cayenne.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray your 9″ x 13″ ovenproof pan with olive oil. Then put in your asparagus and the pepper bits. Spray again and coat it all with olive oil.  This is the secret to the rustic depth of flavor. Your guests will comment that they’ve never tasted asparagus like this before.

Grate on sea salt, pepper and your optional cayenne.

Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Now open the oven and sprinkle on the nuts. Cook 5 – 7 minutes more. You want your asparagus to be bright green and done but still just a little bit of bite left in it. The peppers will be roasted too. The nuts might get a bit of a tinge around the edges. I like them that way.

If this is on a buffet, don’t worry if it cools down. The olive oil on the asparagus gives it a ‘salad’ feel.

If you oven is not at 400 degrees because you are cooking something else too, you can cook it at a lower temperature and slower. It might not get the depth of flavor that comes with roasting at a higher temperature but that’s okay. It will still taste great!

Enjoy!

Cheers,