Roasted Asparagus

If whatever you are doing right now is not going to the farmers market to get a pound or so of fresh asparagus, then stop what you are doing right now. Run (do not walk) to the farmers market to buy fresh asparagus. Bring it home, trim off the woody ends and peel away the lower part of the tough skin (while reserving the tops). Drizzle your denuded fresh asparagus with some nice olive oil and arrange it in a single layer on a baking sheet. Apply sea salt and pepper liberally. Bake your fresh asparagus at 400 degrees for fifteen or twenty minutes until it is just starting to get tender but is still firm. Try not to burn your fingers eating it straight off the baking sheet.

Afterwards, go back to the farmer’s market, buy another pound or so and repeat the process. This time, try very hard not to eat the whole batch before you serve it for dinner. A great use for roasted asparagus is, for example, pasta topped with a simple lemon and cream sauce.

Or you could eat it all yourself, tell your fiance that the asparagus burned and make her eat a frozen pizza for dinner. But that would be wrong.