Roasted Asparagus.

Ah, asparagus. The vegetable love of my life.

Do you know that I spent almost 18 years of my life not knowing the beautiful deliciousness that is asparagus? It's true! I didn't have asparagus until I started dating Evan. I was eating dinner at his house one night and, as was becoming tradition, his mom served a food I was unfamiliar with.

Roasted asparagus.

Here's how meals went at Evan's house when we were dating:
A new food I had never seen, smelled or tasted before would be on the table. I would avoid putting the food on my plate. Evan's mom would see the food absent on my plate. Evan's mom would herself put the food on my plate and stare at me till I ate it. I would eat it because I was scared not to. (Matt, Kyle's husband, was a pro at avoiding eating any food he didn't want. When he and Kyle were dating, during one of the first meals I ate with him there, he simply picked Jana up and placed her on the porch and locked all the doors when she tried to make him eat something green. A very common place tradition for him, I would soon learn.)

True stories. This is how I became acquainted with such lovely foods as brussel sprouts, couscous, and asparagus.

Roasting asparagus is my absolute favorite way to eat it. I will show you the perfect way to cook it.

First you break the asparagus at the base. A trick I learned recently, was to bend the asparagus at the end and the tough part will naturally break off.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay the asparagus on a cooking sheet.
\
Now, you will need some olive oil and kosher salt.

Take the olive oil and drizzle it over the asparagus, like so.

Then take a good amount of kosher salt (like what I have in my hand) and sprinkle it on the asparagus. Remember, kosher salt is more forgiving, so using a lot won't make it too salty. Don't use that much of table salt. It would be toooooo much.

Here is what it looks like before you put it in the oven. Let it cook for about 20 minutes. Check on it, because you don't want it to burn (although, I won't lie, I will still eat it burned because I love it so).

Here's what it looks like when it's finished. The ends of the asparagus should be slightly dark, but the insides will still be juicy and soft!

Oh my goodness, how delicious does this look?!?!


We ate ours as a side to our Lasagna Rollups, but, honestly, I find it a suitable side for anything. Even cereal. I joke. Kind of.


Here's my only problem with asparagus--my children like it just as much as I do. In fact, Julia was eating just as much as me at this meal. I was so very upset. I almost wish I hadn't introduced them to asparagus so that I can eat all of it. But, I am a kind, good hearted mother, who wants my children to be exposed to such fabulous vegetables. So, I will just have to suck it up and buy more.

(Oh, and for those of you who are unaware, asparagus can be a bit potent later....like when you have to tinkle later in the day. I'm just warning you that you may smell something. I don't (because 15% of people do not smell the results of eating asparagus, so I thought Evan was insane when he told me this tid bit of information the first time I ate it), but it really is true.