berry desserts: Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Martha, Martha, Martha.

Martha had to know that this creamy mustard sauce wasn't her best work.At first glance of the recipe, PJ already had decided that he wasn't going to like it. Especially with that vinegar in there. And not cooked. I had hopes. Plus, at this point we had to make it. It was for Martha Mondays. He does benefit from the good food I make, but I guess it means he also has to suffer through some of the not-so-tasty meals. This being one of them.

Like I said, I had hopes even though he didn't. I don't even think I served him any sauce with his asparagus. I didn't want to pour mine directly over my asparagus, so that I could still enjoy my roasted asparagus even if I didn't enjoy the sauce so much. When I dipped my finger in the fully combined sauce to taste it a bit, I gagged, I'm not gonna lie. It was pretty gross. The vinegar was overwhelming. PJ dabbed his finger in to confirm that it really was disgusting. His face explained everything. But I, being the good food blogger that I am (modest?), had to still get a good picture of my vinegary sauce even if it wasn't gonna be eaten. So after I got all of my pictures finished, I had that sauce on my plate. I had already decided in my mind that it was nasty, but I just decided to give it another try with the asparagus. And you know what? It was actually way better. I spread a tad over some asparagus pieces and actually enjoyed the flavor it gave. No longer did I taste the overwhelming vinegar flavor, thank goodness. By the end of the meal, I was actually thinking to myself that I could maybe even make that sauce again. But I must remember to never taste it by itself!

Unfortunately, we doubled the recipe in the beginning because we were having scallops and mushrooms also, and thought we would want more sauce to dip our scallops in also. But after we each tasted it, we realized we really could have made half of the recipe! Also, we didn't have dijon mustard so we just used regular mustard. And we didn't steam the asparagus, we roasted it.

Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce

adapted from Martha Stewart

*Mustard Sauce

4 tablespoons mayo
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons mustard
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

*Roasted Asparagus

asparagus with ends off
drizzle of olive oil
sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and garlic powder

Rinse asparagus and tear off the ends. Place on a pan and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Roast asparagus in the oven at 425 degrees for 14 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the sauce, stir together mayo, olive oil, white wine vinegar, and mustard in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over or serve with roasted asparagus.

PRINTABLE RECIPE