Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Sea Salt

Spring time means asparagus time! It's in season and so easy to make. My mom told me about this recipe a few years ago and it's my go-to asparagus recipe.  I believe it's from one of my all-time favorite chef's, Mario Batali.  He grills it in his recipe on a grill pan, which is just as good.  You can also roast the asparagus in the oven like the recipe below. 

Ingredients:

-1 bunch of asparagus

-1 tsp olive oil

-1 tsp sea salt

-juice of 1 lemon

-pepper

First, wash the asparagus in a strainer.  Pat dry with paper towels.  I've heard mixed opinions about whether you should "snap" the asparagus to find the natural break. But, I most recently read that technique discards too much of the tender part of the vegetable. Instead, it said to chop the stalk about 2 inches from the end and test the tenderness by slicing a bit of the stalk and taking a bite. If it's not tender enough, snip off more.  I tried this and was pleased by results.  The whole asparagus was tender (not stringy and tough) at the end. 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Place the asparagus in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and use your hands to roll them around in the pan until evenly coated.  Season with sea salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes.  After pulling out of the oven, squeeze the juice of the lemon on top of the asparagus.  Make sure you don't get any seeds on your veggies! Serve hot as a great side dish to steak, fish or even chicken!

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