Roasted Asparagus with Panko (Gluten-Free Option)

The following recipe is a dressed up version of my every night approach. Serve these spears as a satisfying side or a finger food hors d'oeuvre. For a delicious, gluten-free option, I substitute crushed Rice Chex for the panko. The recipe may easily be halved for one bunch of asparagus.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt (non-fat and 2% work equally well)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice (when caught lemon-less on occasion, I have omitted or substituted ½ teaspoon vinegar)
½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs, sold near other dry bread crumbs; see note)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound thick asparagus (about 2 bunches)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. On top of a flat dinner plate, whisk together yogurt, mayonnaise, Dijon, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Put breadcrumbs on another plate.
Grease a large, rimmed baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Roll asparagus in yogurt mixture to coat, then in breadcrumbs so spears are well breaded. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. At this point, the asparagus may be covered and refrigerated for several hours before baking.
Drizzle asparagus with the olive oil or–even better–spray lightly with an olive oil mister. Then roast asparagus, turning halfway through, for 8-12 minutes, depending on thickness. The spears should be golden brown and tender but still have some bite. For the batch pictured, which were quite thick, I roasted six minutes, turned, and roasted six more minutes. Very thin spears may require 5-6 minutes total.

For a gluten-free option, Crushed Rice Chex was used instead of panko in this photo and no one knew the difference!