Roasted Asparagus

Ah, spring!  To Lower-48ers, this must mean sprouting blades of grass, flowering trees, and tulip bulps popping up out of the ground.  To those of us in Alaska, it means filthy mounds of melting snow, bare tree branches, and scoop-the-poop season.  Luckily for us...we don't really know any better!  We blissfully walk along the just-cleared paths of Anchorage's glorious trail system reveling in the barely-warm sunshine thankful that our record-breaking season of snow is officially behind us.

The produce section of every grocery store in America is stocked full of beautiful, green asparagus right now- the most springy of springtime vegetables.  Perfect time to post a perfectly easy and delicious dish to grace the side of any dinnertime plate (or breakfast or lunch, for that matter- let's not stereotype the poor veggie.)  Roasting vegetables is absolutely my favorite way to eat them, no matter the season.  I love the carmelized flavor and the crunchy charred bits you taste when you roast vegetables, and asparagus particularly so. 

This is the most basic way to roast aspargus, but sometimes I mix it up by adding parmesan cheese at the end, or roasting with a little balsamic vinegar.  Once you get the method down, you can experiment to figure out your favorite combination.

Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus, rinsed and drained (roughly 1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
2 t. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
a few grinds of fresh pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  First, remove the woody end of the asparagus.  Take your fattest stock of asparagus and snap off the end.  Then line up the rest of the asparagus and cut off the ends to match that stock.  Toss the asparagus, oil, salt, and pepper on a baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the asparagus, moving the asparagus around on the pan at least once during roasting.  Serve immediately!

Enjoy! xo H