Brown Butter Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

I think it is only appropriate to start off this post with an apology, because I've been slacking on posting for the last two weeks. I can blame the holiday madness and while I didn't log on to record all my cooking adventures, I was cooking up a storm over the holidays. I made a few different dishes for my family and have made different dishes for holiday shindigs. So I'll recap these bites over the next week or two to catch up.  The first of which is a simple asparagus side dish that I made for Christmas Eve dinner. And we even served it on my mom's asparagus platter.

Brown Butter Balsamic Roasted Asparagus (serves 8)

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs asparagus spears, trimmed
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 TB butter
• 2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tspbalsamic vinegar
• Cracked black pepper
• Grated lemon rind (I used 1/4 tsp)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Arrange asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet; coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until tender.

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Drizzle over asparagus, tossing well to coat. Garnish with cracked pepper and rind, if desired.