Summer Favorite

I have been enjoying whipping up new(ish) recipes or adding more flavor to my original recipe to freshen up our day to day menu.  

I usually google combinations to make sure that they even go together.  "Hey Google, does balsamic vinegar go well with asparagus?" Google usually provides a long, but informative answer.  The answer is, yes. 

My boyfriend was grilling chicken and I wanted to add flare to our side dishes.  We purchased a two pound bag of asparagus from Costco so I decided to dig into it. 

I dressed the asparagus with a dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  I chopped up cherry tomatoes and sprinkled Kraft parmesan cheese.  I didn't have shredded parmesan so it was a great substitute. 

The finished product. 

I preheated the oven to 425˚  and popped the pan in the oven.  These stayed in there for 20 minutes.  I didn't want the asparagus to get too tender.  I usually like my asparagus super soft, but since I put cherry tomatoes in this recipe, I wanted a bit of a crunch. 

The asparagus was rich with flavor and tender.  I loved the taste of the balsamic infused cherry tomatoes. They were sweet and tender.  I was actually surprised that it turned out as well as it did.  

Ingredients:  [Prep time: 15 minutes]

• 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil                                                    (to coat the bottom so nothing sticks)
• Generously add balsamic vinegar (to your liking)
• 1 cup of chopped tomatoes 
• Generously add parmesan (to your liking)

    

Bake:

• Pre-heat oven to 425˚
• Bake for 20 minutes

I'll be honest, I was kind of intimidated veering away from what I know.  I grew up in a household where we predominately ate homecooked Mexican food, which was absolutely delicious and I love.  I still cook a lot of Mexican dishes.  I think the intimidation part comes from not being confident in making other types of dishes.  It's a work in progress, but I will always enjoy eating Mexican food the most! 😋