Roasted Asparagus with Lemon Zest and Feta Cheese

Roasting brings out the best in vegetables. It intensifies their sweetness and gives them a much more appealing texture than other cooking methods. Roasted vegetables are usually crispy on the outside and buttery tender on the inside. Now that sounds much better then boiled or steamed veggies, doesn't it? What is even better is that, as you will see bellow, obtaining perfectly roasted vegetables is very easy!! 

You can serve roasted asparagus as a side dish to almost anything! I also love eating them for lunch. In that case, I add a little feta cheese to it and serve it with fresh bread or toast: an easy, quick and healthy meal!

Roasted Asparagus with Feta Cheese and Lemon Zest

important notes: 1)when roasting vegetables do not overcrowd the baking sheet, otherwise the vegetables will steam and not roast properly. 2)add herbs before roasting for extra flavoring - fresh thyme goes really well with asparagus

Ingredients (No specific measurements today. I am showing you a method that works with any quantity of asparagus you want to prepare. Look at the pictures bellow to visualize)

asparagus, trimmed

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

lemon zest 

feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

Directions:

1- Place an oven rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2- Trim asparagus, place them on a baking sheet (do not overcrowd the baking sheet). Coat the asparagus evenly with olive oil, sprinkle them with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. (if adding herbs, this is the time to do it).

3- Bring it into the oven and roast for about 15 minutes or until asparagus is tender. Sprinkle it with lemon zest right after you remove it from the oven. Transfer asparagus to a platter. Top it with feta cheese and little extra olive oil. Adjust salt and pepper, if necessary.

Visualize:

Preheat oven to 400F. Trim the ends of the asparagus steams:

Place it on a baking sheet, drizzle it with olive oil and add salt and pepper. Use your hands to make sure oil and seasoning coat the vegetables very well:

After about 15 minutes my asparagus was tender and slightly golden brown:

Add lemon zest:

Plate it, add cheese and olive oil:

And that was lunch: