This is basically the best and easiest way possible to roast mushrooms and asparagus together.
Roasted Mushrooms and Asparagus
Ingredients
1 bunch fresh asparagus*
1 pound or so fresh mushrooms**
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced, or 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
kosher salt or sea salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Trim the asparagus* and slice the mushrooms** and place them in your roasting dish (unless you are using a greased cookie sheet, in which case use a bowl for this part).
3. Drizzle with the olive oil, and add the garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper; toss well. If you are using a cookie sheet, evenly spread everything out on it. Roast in the preheated oven until the asparagus is tender, about 15 minutes.
*An important note about asparagus: Did you know you can trim the ends of asparagus just by bending them a little until they snap in just the right place? Because I just found this out recently and it was life-changing. (If your asparagus are all about the same size and width, you can just snap one to figure out where to trim, then hold it against the rest of the bunch and chop the ends off all at once.)
**An important note about mushrooms: If you only have white mushrooms on hand because they were on sale and are going to go bad or something, you can use only white mushrooms, and they will taste delicious (consider also adding a teaspoon of lemon juice). But this recipe is easy and neutral, and it’s fall, and there are so many other types of mushrooms to be excited about/try!
White: White mushrooms are what most people think of when they think of mushrooms, are somewhere between off-white and bright white, and often come in small, medium, and large sizes.
Cremini/Brown: Brown mushrooms are just a bit firmer than white mushrooms, are tan to dark brown in colour, and have a stronger earthier flavour. They taste a bit stronger raw than they do cooked, and can replace white mushrooms in things like this recipe.
Portabella: These are large, fully grown brown mushrooms, and are lightish tan in colour. They are still earthy but with a different, thicker texture (there’s a reason they’re fun to make substitute hamburgers from if you are vegetarian/vegan).
Oyster: Oyster mushrooms are often light brown in colour (but can be grey or pinkish) and have caps that look like funnels. They have a mild flavour and taste just a little sweet.
Shiitake: Shiitake mushrooms are somewhere between brown and portabella mushrooms in size, and if you haven’t seen them before, they look sort of like they have something wrong with them in the radioactive mutation sense, because they look they have veins and their colour can be pretty uneven. They have a strong flavour, come fresh or dried, and get a little crispy when roasted.
What kind of mushroom is for you? Also, enjoy!
I always always always roast asparagus…probs my favorite veggie, and i’m def going to try the bend and snap (ha! legally blonde!) asparagus trimming method. my girlfriend will by happy that i’m adding mushrooms to the mix since i think she’s getting a little tired of the nonstop asparagus lol
Are any of the authors on this site non-vegan? I love me some mushrooms sure, but for real, I’m waiting on the ‘Get Baked: Bite into a Cow’ article.
I’m completely biased, as a vegetarian bordering on vegan, but I really appreciate the lack of cow-biting!
I would love to see Intern Grace’s photocaps for such an article.
Me too.
I mean, I eat veg food too, but I do love me some meaty goodness!
what is a good alternative for garlic? you all use garlic so often as a main spicey flavour thing in recipes & it looks yummy but I can’t eat it.
I usually roast my asparagus with just olive oil and lemon juice. No need for garlic! :)
I agree that salt, lemon juice, and olive oil make garlic unnecessary for roasting. If you want spicy, add some red pepper flakes! In a stir-fry where the mushrooms would be soaking up flavors, I would use onions instead.
Also, some people who don’t eat garlic or onions for religious reasons use asafoetida to season their food. Now, some alternative names for asafoetida are hing, devil’s dung, and stinking gum, so you have to prepare it carefully. Raw it smells so bad it will give you nighmares, but cooked in oil it tastes nice. I keep some around just in case I want to smell-attack my enemies.
Great advice!
hooray! thank you all very much!
asofoetida/hing. it smells AWFUL and you have to store it in about 5 nested containers in the freezer, but it tastes magical.
i guess i should read what other people type before i answer
Oh yes, I’m gonna be all over this recipe. Any chance to eat asparagus, I am there.
NOMNOMNOM.
asparagus weirds me out.
This looks simple and delicious. Also if you’re feeling schmancy, a drizzle of balsamic over the asparagus while it’s roasting works really well.
That sounds delicious.
THANK YOU SO MUCH. I desperately need a new way to cook veggies. I need more veggies.
I originally read this as “Roasted Marshmallows and Asparagus” and I was really confused/excited. Upon further investigation, the combination of mushrooms and asparagus makes much more culinary sense. I might have to try this some time…
But seriously. I wonder what marshmallows and asparagus would taste like together.
Do iiiiiiit. You know you want to.
Asparagus has a strong fiberous root system which causes the lower portion of the stems to be dense and fiberous..Grasp the stalk by the middle with one hand and the cut end with the other an gently bend the cut end down..The stalk will snap at the natural “break”, where the dense fiberous portion ends.
MMMM i made asparagus and Mushrooms today but they were tampora style with polenta and fenal and all kindayummy stuff at school but that sounds so good toooo!!
… if you peel the asparagus from the point you broke off to the top frilly part it gets all the fiberous-ness off and they make amazing “french Fries” for the kids
I hate asparagus.
True story: portobello mushrooms are just overgrown button mushrooms. (I also think they are way more delicious when they are mature!)
Love me some mushrooms! This sounds wonderful! But you simply must try some Himalayan pink salt. I get mine from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com. The flavor is so much better than regular salt! Thanks for sharing this recipe—I can’t wait to try it!
I just made this for dinner and can attest to its no-fuss deliciousness – SO tasty. I made two slight modifications – I roasted the asparagus and the mushrooms separately, drizzled a bit of lemon on the mushrooms and balsamic on the asparagus for a change in seasoning. Second, I popped some cherry tomatoes on to the roasting tray. Not actually sure that counts as a modification. The recipe is fine as it is, I am just chronically unable to follow recipes :p
The only change I would make is to turn the heat down to 180 degrees celcius / 356 degrees farenheit when roasting… that is the heat I usually roast asparagus at, and the results seem better roasted. I guess it would take a bit longer though. I have leftover asparagus and mushrooms so I might give it a go tomorrow and see if it makes a difference.
A great easy way to get some veggies into you :)