Parmesan cheese adds a richness to these garlic and lemon seasoned asparagus spears. With their bright color and crisp texture, this easy asparagus recipe is the perfect Easter side dish.
Easter is less that a week away!
Are you excited for family meals and Easter egg hunts?
Easter side dish inspiration
If you’re still looking for Easter dinner inspiration, today we have a perfect side dish for a classic Easter vegetable.
And, we’ll be sharing some other easy Easter side dishes to complete your table!
What do you serve with Easter dinner?
When it comes to holidays, my Dad’s family is very much full of tradition followers. I can tell you, in advance, 70-80% of what will be on the table for any given holiday.
We love it because it lets us get excited about the “Easter foods,” and they just make the meal feel like Easter.
The funny thing is, they don’t serve asparagus for Easter.
For them, asparagus is a Christmas vegetable.
At Easter, the casual buffet table is filled with ham and croissants, deviled eggs, broccoli cauliflower salad, green bean casserole, jello eggs, my Mom’s mandarin Oriental salad, and cheesy potato casserole.
And, while an asparagus dish might not be their style, this asparagus recipe is something that we serve at our house when we host Easter dinner.
Parmesan garlic asparagus – an Easter recipe
Asparagus is such a quintessential spring vegetable that serving it for Easter just makes sense!
(And, if we ever thaw out up here, we’ll start seeing the sprouts of new spears poking their little heads above ground any day.)
To celebrate our anticipation of spring, we put together a simple and spring-y asparagus side dish.
By sauteing blanched asparagus with fragrant garlic and a pinch of lemon, you infuse the crisp asparagus with bright flavor.
A grating of fresh Parmesan cheese adds a richness to the dish, rounding out the slight pucker of the lemon juice and creating a perfect side dish to go with your Easter ham, or whatever main dish graces your table.
More Easter side dish recipes
Whether your Easter dinner is a formal affair or casual buffet, here are some other side dishes inspired by the flavors of spring:
- Lemon Rosemary Orzo with Mushrooms
- Salad Nicoise
- Rosemary Focaccia
- Spring Pea Risotto
- Lemon Glazed Carrots
- Rosemary and Thyme Roasted Potato Salad
- Homemade Croissants (And Low Butter Croissants)
Parmesan and Garlic Asparagus
Parmesan cheese adds a richness to these garlic and lemon seasoned asparagus spears. With their bright color and crisp texture, this easy asparagus recipe is the perfect Easter side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 lb asparagus spears, woody base removed
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp salt
- dash ground black pepper
- 1/4 c Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add trimmed asparagus spears and boil for 2 minutes, just until the spears are bright green and float to the top. Remove spears and place on a paper towel. Pat dry.
- In a large, non-stick skillet, heat the oil. Add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, 1 min.
- Add asparagus and sauté over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and toss with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1/6 of recipeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 278
This is one of the recipes from the early days of Curious Cuisiniere. We’ve updated our pictures since we first shared it, but we’ve left some originals here, in case you’ve found us in the past and are looking for that old, familiar image.
If you liked this recipe, here are some similar dishes you may enjoy!
Sarah is one of Curious Cuisiniere’s founding duo. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Jessy
Monday 14th of April 2014
This looks amazing! What a refreshing way to make asparagus! I am definitely planning on trying this, asparagus is hands-down my favorite vegetable! :-)
Sarah
Monday 14th of April 2014
Thanks for stopping by Jessy! We've been learning to love asparagus more and more the past year!