Recipes From Our CSA: Roasted Lemon Parmesan Asparagus
If you haven’t noticed, I am big on local food. There is nothing better than supporting your local farming community, as well as Ontario agriculture as a whole.
“J” and I had spent a lot of time last summer buying our fresh produce from our local farmers market in St. Jacobs, but to our dismay, we found a lot of the produce there was still imported and not organic. This summer we thought that we would try something different. We bought a half CSA share. This entitles us to 6 choices of locally grown & organic foods each week, depending on what is being harvested at the time.
This past week was our first time picking up our share. We choose potatoes, carrots, bok choy, onions, cucumbers & asparagus. Of course I was most excited about the local asparagus. I had just the recipe in mind when I brought it home.
Roasted Lemon Parmesan Asparagus
Ingredients
1/2 bunch of local asparagus
1 tbsp olive oil
zest of 1/2 of a lemon
juice from 1/4 of a lemon
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Clean asparagus and break off ends.
3. Toss asparagus in olive oil until lightly coated. Place in flat baking dish or on a baking sheet.
4. Sprinkle with lemon zest, lemon juice & parmesan cheese.
5. Bake 10-15 minutes until asparagus is tender-crisp.
This asparagus is seriously amazing. The lemon zest gives it just enough zing, while the parmesan cheese crisps up nicely on the outside. Making sure they are cooked until tender-crisp is also important, you want them to have a little bit of crunch when you bite into them. “J” and I ended up eating it with Steak and potatoes… the perfect quick meal.
Where do you buy your fresh produce from? Have you ever tried taking part in a CSA program?