Balsamic Asparagus and Artichokes

Submitted by londongavchick

"This is a very simple vegetable side dish. It also looks very elegant if the asparagus lies neatly across the other veggies."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 4
• Serves: 8-12

ingredients

• 2 bunches asparagus
• 1 lb frozen peppers and onions (Bird's Eye brand pepper stir fry)
• 1 (15 ounce) can water-packed artichoke hearts
• fat-free balsamic vinegar

directions

1. Steam asparagus in batches vegetable steamer for 5-10 minutes each batch; time depending on the thickness of your asparagus stems.
2. Meanwhile, stir fry frozen peppers in nonstick pan until warm and soft. Spoon out any extra liquid.
3. Drain and rinse artichoke hearts. Chop coarsely and toss with peppers in medium bowl. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette to taste.
4. Put mixture in refrigerator until cool.
5. Cool asparagus and refrigerate until ready to serve.
6. To serve, put pepper mixture on plate and neatly place asparagus on top. Drizzle with more balsamic vinaigrette.

Reviews

[justcallmetoni]

A wonderful combination that tastes of spring or summer. Since peppers are plentiful right now, I used a combination of sliced fresh red & green peppers with sweet onions. Since the pieces were larger, kept the pieces of chopped artichokes a bit larger as well, in quarters. Added a teaspoon of thyme and a little black pepper to this to make it zing with the vinagrette (in this case one from Maple Grove Farms). This would be a perfect for a BBQ or picnic as it would travel well. You could even grill the peppers, onions and asparagus on an indoor or outdoor grill for another flavor dimension. My only change would be to reduce the cooking time for the asparagus to 5-6 minutes to keep it crisp as it was a little mushy. Thanks.