Walnut Crusted Roast Asparagus with Zesty Chive Sauce

Spring is finally here, my friends. And by that I mean all the snow finally melted in the garden and the beginnings of my daffodils are poking their heads out of the muck. I’m happy for a myriad of reasons, but largely because of all the bright spring produce that’s finally hitting the markets around here, and that includes my old friend, asparagus. It’s one of my spring favorites and I’ve made + enjoyed it a number of ways (pizza, anyone?), but this walnut crusted roast asparagus is my new favorite. Basically, you toss the asparagus in a mixture of finely chopped walnuts, savory yeast flakes, and salt, and roast it in the oven. The walnuts get perfectly toasted and develop that rich buttery flavor that only toasted nuts have, and then you top it all off with a very bright and fresh homemade chive sauce.

Now, I also really love varying textures in a meal, so I added in another sheet pan with roasted chickpeas (for some crunch and protein), and riced cauliflower. (Yep, so that means you need two racks in your oven so you can bake the roasted asparagus and the chickpeas and riced cauliflower at the same time). If you’re unfamiliar with riced cauliflower, it’s basically cauliflower that’s been cut into teeny pieces, and the texture of it closely resembles rice. It’s a great way to get in extra veggies to your meal, and the flavor is REALLY good. Plus you can get it frozen pre-riced at most grocery stores, which saves you the time of ricing it yourself (it is cheaper to buy a head of cauliflower and chop it up yourself, however. Whatever your budget or schedule is, just do what works best for you).

But what about the sauce? Oh, the sauce. My friend, this sauce is one of my finest creations. I set out to make an herby aioli-type sauce that was lemony and easy to throw together, so I combined some chives, parsley, lemon juice, greek yogurt, salt, and olive oil and voila! This delicious and vibrant green sauce was born. Sometimes recipe development is hard, but this was one of those hit-it-out-of-the-park moments where you get it bang-on on the first try. Because there’s so many chives in it, it has this wonderful extra-savory element and the most appealing hint of onion (since chives are in the allium family).

I hope this encourages you to make the most of spring and pop on by your farmers’ market to grab some tasty produce. I promise that this roasted asparagus will be worth the trip (and who knows, you might even come back with some more tasty spring goodness like nettle or snap peas, or even a glorious rhubarb stalk).

5 from 2 votes

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Walnut Crusted Roast Asparagus with Riced Cauliflower and Zesty Chive Sauce

This sheet pan dinner roast asparagus is topped with a bright lemony chive sauce and served with savory roast chickpeas and garlicky riced cauliflower.

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword asparagus, riced caluflower, vegetarian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 408 kcal

Ingredients

Walnut Crusted Roast Asparagus

• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon yeast flakes
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pound asparagus
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Roasted Riced Cauliflower and Chickpeas

• 12 ounces riced cauliflower fresh or frozen
• 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 16 ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Zesty Chive Sauce

• .5 ounces chives roughly chopped
• 1 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic roughly chopped
• 6 ounces Greek yogurt dairy or vegan
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil added in a single steady stream

Toppings

• Zest from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoon finely chopped chives
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley

Instructions

Walnut Crusted Roast Asparagus

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small bowl, combine the walnuts, yeast flakes, and salt and stir to combine. Trim the bottom 1/4 off the bottom of the asparagus spears and compost the tough bottoms. Place the asparagus on a lipped baking sheet and toss with the olive oil, then sprinkle the walnuts over the asparagus and toss until coated. Spread out the asparagus in an even layer and set aside for now (it's best to put the asparagus sheet pan in the oven at the same time as the cauliflower + chickpeas sheet pan so that everything is hot and ready at the same time.)

Roasted Riced Cauliflower and Chickpeas

1. Place the riced cauliflower on a large lipped baking sheet (I use the "half sheet" size that's about 13x18 inches), keeping it to one half of the baking sheet. Add the garlic and drizzle with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and toss to combine. Pat out the riced cauliflower so it's in an even layer on half of the baking sheet.

2. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, coriander, garlic powder, and paprika and stir. Set it aside. Add the chickpeas to the other half of the sheet pan and drizzle them with the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil and the coriander spice mixture and toss to coat. Evenly spread out the chickpeas on their half of the baking sheet.
3. Place the asparagus on one rack of the oven and the riced cauliflower and chickpeas on another. Roast the asparagus for 12 to 14 minutes, and the riced cauliflower + chickpeas for about 17 to 20 minutes.

Zesty Chive Sauce

1. While the veggies are roasting, you can make the chive sauce. In a blender or food processor, add the chives, parsley, garlic, yogurt, lemon juice, and salt. Blend at medium high speed, and using the small hole at the top of the blender lid or food processor cap, drizzle in the olive oil in a thin steady stream while the blender is operating. Continue blending until the sauce is a vibrant green but you still have nice visible chunks of herbs in the sauce, about 1 minute.

Assembly

1. Place the riced cauliflower on a plate and top with the roast chickpeas and the asparagus. Generously drizzle with the chive sauce and sprinkle with the lemon zest, fresh chives, and fresh parsley. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Walnut Crusted Roast Asparagus with Riced Cauliflower and Zesty Chive Sauce

Amount Per Serving

Calories 408 Calories from Fat 243

% Daily Value*

Fat 27g42%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Trans Fat 0.003g

Polyunsaturated Fat 7g

Monounsaturated Fat 16g

Cholesterol 2mg1%

Sodium 1678mg73%

Potassium 886mg25%

Carbohydrates 30g10%

Fiber 11g46%

Sugar 6g7%

Protein 16g32%

Vitamin A 2499IU50%

Vitamin C 78mg95%

Calcium 173mg17%

Iron 6mg33%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.