Ray’s Recipe
Roasted Asparagus
As a Grieving Guy who lives alone, I had to learn how to cook healthy meals if I wanted to stay healthy. I love asparagus. I don’t like it steamed. I don’t like it soft. I like it a bit on the crunchy side. My problem with asparagus is that I like it a lot, so I roast all of it. Usually, I take no prisoners, if you know what I mean. My dad used to say, “Ray, you belong to the clean plate club,” when I was very young.
I use a large rectangular baking pan to roast my asparagus. To make it easier, I get the aluminum foil that doesn’t need any spray. I like to make it as easy on myself as possible. I cut off the ends of the asparagus and lay them out next to each other. I place them close to each other. I don’t think asparagus can get claustrophobic. Once I have them lined up, I baste them with EVOO.
One of the gifts of living in south Texas is that rosemary grows year-round. I have three rosemary bushes. I went into the backyard and snipped two large sprigs of rosemary. Love the smell and taste of it. I rinsed it off, and use my cooking scissors to let it fall like snow on the EVOO covered asparagus.
I turn the oven on to 4500 and let it heat up. I sprinkle crushed red pepper on it since I like to kick it up a notch. Once the oven reaches its temperature, I slide the asparagus in and set my iPhone timer for ten minutes. In the meantime, I get a pair of tongs and set them aside so I can test the asparagus. While the asparagus is cooking, I grate parmesan origiano. I’ll sprinkle some on the top of the asparagus and slide the pan back in the oven for two minutes to melt the cheese.
I must mention, I snagged a piece and ate it before I put it back in the oven. What’s a guy to do, right?
The finished product – I’m not too artistic, no A for presentation. It was very good.
