Lemon Roasted Asparagus with Feta and Walnuts

I have about two weeks were everyone is home at the same time!

My girl cherub is in school, finishing up her finals.

My boy cherub is back home from college, before going to his next assignment.

Of course, my Mr. is here. 

With everyone around the table, our dinners are a little more balanced.

By that, I mean we typically have a protein and two vegetables.

I must admit, it is kind of nice to have meal balance!

Our entire family loves roasted asparagus.

When I buy it, I always have the thought of, "will this be enough."

It always is, but there is never any leftovers.

The other night, I took a few ingredients I had on hand and made a new asparagus recipe.

For those of you who are ultra observant, you'll see it is chopped mixed nuts on the asparagus.

Even though the recipe title says walnuts.

I thought I had walnuts.

But I didn't.

However, I did have mixed nuts.

So that's what I used.

Remember, baking is a science but cooking is an art.

What that means is in cooking, you can easily make substitutions based on preferences or ingredients on hand.

So I substituted mixed nuts.

Lemon Roasted Asparagus with Feta & Walnuts

1 pound asparagus, trimmed
olive oil
1/2 lemon
feta cheese, crumbled (I prefer brine soaked feta cheese)
walnuts, roasted and salted, chopped
fresh cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

On a foil lined baking pan, place asparagus in a single layer and lightly drizzle with olive oil.

Place the pan of asparagus in the oven and roast until desired tenderness.  I roasted this pan about 15 minutes, and these were "young, tender asparagus stalks."

Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the asparagus with the crumbled feta.  Return the pan to the oven and allow the feta cheese to soften onto the asparagus.

Remove the pan from the oven and before serving, squeeze the juice of half a lemon on top of the asparagus and top with the chopped walnuts.  Dust with a bit of cracked pepper, if desired.  If you prefer, add just a smidge of finishing salt, if the feta cheese doesn't add enough saltiness for your preference.

Serve warm or room temperature.