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As all of you may know, I’m not Paula Deen’s biggest fan.  However, I was intrigued by her attempt to jump on the healthy band wagon for this week’s Light and Healthy Week on the Food Network.  I decided to try one of her southern-style light fares.  Since I recently purchased a bag of frozen asparagus on an impulse buy at the supermarket, I decided to find something that could use those bad boys up.  I landed on a typical asparagus recipe, Paula Deen style (aka it has butter in it.)

Weekly Recipe Attempt:  Asparagus with Lemon Butter

I liked this recipe.  It’s simple and quick to prepare.  I paired the asparagus with a skinless chicken thigh that I roasted in the oven.  I think that I put a little too much lemon on top, because the asparagus had a little too much of a kick to it, but it was still pretty good.  I like to squeeze lemons and sometimes get a little over zealous with the juice.   Paula’s recipe called for olive oil, and to lighten things a little, since I didn’t want to keep all the butter, I sprayed the asparagus with canola oil from a can.  This method saves about a 100 calories and still had the desired effect.  I love using asparagus because it looks so pretty on the plate.  Even if you use only a few stalks it takes up a lot of the plate and makes things look pretty.  Use extra lemon wedges for garnish to wow a crowd.

I give this healthy recipe an 8.  It’s too simple to merit a higher score, but I do think that this just might be the perfect light side dish to any lean meat entree.