Baked or Grilled Garlic Asparagus

In the summertime, one of the best vegetable side dishes you can serve with a steak is grilled asparagus. It's so easy to cook, and when done right, tastes so delicious. This simple recipe all pair wonderfully with your favourite slow carb recipes, especially steak or chicken recipes. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

• Asparagus stalks (bend them near the root end, and where they naturally crack, you can cut and dispose of the bottoms)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• a few cloves of garlic (to taste)
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F.
2. Crush/dice the garlic.
3. Mix the seasonings and garlic into the olive oil in a small bowl.
4. Place the asparagus on a baking tray, and spoon the olive oil mixture over it. Move around to try to coat as much as possible.
5. Cover the baking tray with a lid or aluminum foil, and bake for about 10 minutes. This will help steam the asparagus.
6. After 10 minutes, remove the lid/foil and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes to crisp the edges of the asparagus and garlic. For faster browning, you can try using the broiler for a few minutes, but pay close attention to it!

Options and recommendations

As an alternative to baking in the oven (especially in the hot summer weather!), I love cooking my asparagus on the grill alongside my steaks. You can toss the vegetables with the olive oil mixture ahead of time, and then place the stalks individually on a cooler section of the BBQ. If you do this method, you might also want to consider using an oil with a higher smoke point, as olive oil tends to burn at the high temps of your grill. Try a bit of canola oil or grapeseed oil if you wish!