Yay, it's still asparagus season!

What could be better than a plate of roasted asparagus? How about a plate of asparagus roasted in olive oil infused with garlic and herbs?

Although we've roasted many pans of different vegetables with homemade dijon vinaigrette, we hadn't tried using infused olive oil before. So this was an experiment that went incredibly right.


Roasted asparagus with infused olive oil

olive oil
garlic
chives
red pepper flake
salt, pepper
asparagus

First, infuse your olive oil. It's going to need to sit for at least a half hour, and preferably longer, for the flavors to permeate. I used about 1/3 cup of oil, which I just poured into a measuring cup.

You can infuse your oil with practically any herb or spice combination that sounds delicious to you, and in any proportion you like. I used two cloves of garlic, two very large and thick chives, several good coarse grinds of black pepper, and a little smattering of salt and red pepper flake. Peel your garlic and chop both it and your chives before adding them to the oil. Otherwise, just put all your herbs and spices into the oil, stir, and let infuse.

When you're ready to cook, preheat your oven to 400F.

Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Wash and lightly dry your asparagus, snap off the woody ends, and arrange the spears in one layer on your cookie sheet. Now use a pastry brush to coat all the asparagus spears with infused oil. You may need to mix a bit with your hands to ensure that all your asparagus is covered with a thin coat of oil. Some garlic and herbs will stick to your asparagus; this is more than fine. Sprinkle a bit of extra salt over the tray before you put it in the oven.

Roast your asparagus for about 25 minutes, or until tender and slightly browned. If you have particularly thin or fat asparagus, you may need to adjust the time a little.


Eat hot or let cool to lukewarm. Either way, it's going to be delicious.

I recommend you eat your asparagus with your fingers. It tastes best that way.

Variations:
- Infuse your oil with parsley and copious lemon zest. Throw in a few capers if they float your boat.
- I don't like anchovies, but my brain is saying they might be great with the parsley-lemon combination as well.
- Replace part of the olive oil with melted butter or ghee.
- Infuse your oil--maybe use peanut?--with garlic, ginger, and orange zest, and add a little soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Serve with toasted sesame seeds or gomasio.
- Use your infused oil to roast something else entirely: cauliflower, green beans, radishes, broccolini.
- Eat your finished roasted asparagus on top of a massive salad of tender greens.

Hooray asparagus!