Roasted Asparagus with Tomatoes

Roasted asparagus with cherry tomatoes is a delicious Mediterranean-inspired dish. It pairs deliciously with seafood, steak, or chicken.

This easy side dish is light, bright, and so tasty! It brings together ingredients from the Mediterranean and is a low-carb and tasty veggie dish. The asparagus and tomatoes are almost like a marriage between spring and summer vegetables, and pair beautifully together.

Serve as is, or pair with a delicious chicken, steak, or seafood dish. You can even customize it to your liking! Want it a bit spicy? Add some red pepper flakes. Want to add a bit of depth? Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over the top.

Key Ingredients:

• Asparagus - Asparagus is so delicious, and easily found in spring months. For this recipe, we used regular asparagus, but you can also use thin if you alter the cooking times.
• Cherry tomatoes - We used red cherry tomatoes, but you can also use yellow cherry tomatoes or another type. We do recommend using cherry tomatoes for this recipe.
• Fresh basil - Fresh basil is easy to keep around! We keep a pot or some growing in our garden. However, you can find it in the refrigerated produce section of most grocery stores if needed.
• Lemon - All you need is the juice!

Can I use thin asparagus?

Yes! This asparagus and tomato recipe also works well with thin asparagus. However, because it's not as thick, you'll cook it for less time in the oven. Cook thin asparagus for 17-20 minutes.

How to trim asparagus:

A lot of times when you get asparagus from the store, you still need to trim off the very bottom of the stem, because that part tends to be more "woody" and fibrous than the rest of the stem.

My favorite way to trim asparagus is by snapping it. I take each piece of asparagus and go to the very bottom to see where it snaps easily. It's surprisingly satisfying and easy to do.

You can also cut it with a knife, which I've done many times, but I feel I've gotten better results by snapping each piece.

How to serve:

When making a delicious side dish like this, it's always a common question what to serve it with! Here are some suggestions.

• With a piece of fish. Salmon, cod, and trout would all be delicious with this dish!
• A seared and sliced steak
• Lemon orzo soup with shrimp
• Chicken piccata
• With chili lime shrimp or spicy Calabrian shrimp
• If desired, you can always add a bit of grated or shaved parmesan cheese as well.

How to make:

First, preheat the oven and trim the woody bottoms off of the asparagus. Slice up the basil into thin strips.

Spread the asparagus over a sheet pan, and toss with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, then start cooking in the oven.

After the asparagus has been cooking in the oven for 15 minutes (10 minutes if cooking thin asparagus), start heating olive oil in a skillet.

Add the cherry tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently. As tomatoes soften, press down on a few gently to release the tomato juices into the oil.

Remove the asparagus from the oven, then top with the tomatoes any any oil and juice in the pan. Squeeze half a lemon over the top, add the chopped basil, and season with salt and pepper as needed.