Oven Roasted Asparagus

Nothing says spring like asparagus and Boy do we love it in our house! Even my 8 and 5 year olds will eat it and I think this method of preparation has a good deal to do with that. It brings out the natural sweetness in vegetables and adds a bit of brown (carmelized natural sugars) which equals extra flavor. The great thing about this method is that you can try it on just about any heartier vegetable you can think of and we have: carrots, brussel sprouts, and broccoli just to name a few. Although I have other ways of preparing those vegetables that are a bit more fancy (and I'll share those recipes another time), we've all but given up just plain steaming preferring this route instead. Roast away!

Oven Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Place cookie sheet in oven while it preheats to 425 degrees. Rinse asparagus and then trim ends. I'm lazy and just pick a spot about an inch and a half up and cut the bunch all at once. But if you really want to be thorough about removing the tough part, pick up each stalk, hold either end and gently bend, is should snap apart right around where the tough stem end meets the soft enough to eat stalk. Place in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil, enough to coat thoroughly (about 3T?) Use hands to toss around to ensure even coating. Once oven and cookie sheet are piping hot, remove sheet momentarily from oven and quickly spread oil-coated asparagus in an even layer. It should sizzle a bit when it hits the hot sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt and a few cranks of fresh ground pepper and pop right back in the oven. Roast 8-10 minutes, checking around the 8 minute mark for doneness. Asparagus is done when fork goes in easily but there's a still some firmness. Remove from oven and serve while hot.