The rain has dampened my enthusiasm for cooking, thinking, doing stuff this week. I had an incredibly exciting interview on Tuesday, and email for another exciting interview for next week, and then spent the rest of the week in brain-melt mode. I was able to be mildly productive but nearly as productive as I wanted/needed to be. My goals for next week are big and shiny and will make up for the lost time of last week’s slump. Some sunshine would really help motivate me…*coughcough*mother nature get on this *coughcough*. Fun fact, apparently Elton John, when in a hotel in Germany, was so bothered by the wind while he was trying to sleep that he asked his agent (or manager) to do something about the weather. I am with Elton on this, somebody please correct the weather (preferably the weather in Vancouver, not Germany… I mean, clear theirs up too if you want).

I bought a big bag of asparagus (super strange word now that I’ve typed it multiple times), and had been pondering easy and tasty ways to prepare it. I am not a huge asparagus fan, I like the flavour but find it can get boring and is easily made mushy or stringy when not prepared perfectly. Gen is a big fan though so I bought some and went about giving it the good ol’roasting treatment. These are delicious and dead simple. I am definitely going to whip up an alternative batch this coming week with a twist, which I will post after trying! I cooked mine for about 7 minutes and the texture was perfect, tender but with enough bite to avoid the mushy issue. I topped mine with one of the frozen tuna burgers from the big batch I made awhile ago, topped with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of dill. Roasting is quickly becoming a favourite veggie preparation, with roasted broccoli just edging out these spears as a favourite. Also, on a completely random note, I have an odd super power! A serving of asparagus for us is ten spears; everytime I reach into that bag I come out with ten spears! I am choosing to see this as a super power and not just a coincidence that my grip happens to hold only ten spears… I’m the Asparagus Grabber!

Roasted Asparagus

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Rinse the spears well and break off the tough ends. Pat the spears dry with some paper towel and lay them out on the prepare baking sheet.
3. Drizzle the olive oil over the spears, and roll the asparagus back and forth until they are coated.
4. Add the garlic, cayenne, salt and pepper to the pan and again roll the spears to coat. Scoop up any garlic and salt not on the spears and place on the spears.
5. Roast the spears for 7-9 minutes until just tender with a fork. Serve with a splash of lemon juice.

Nothing exciting.

WOW, the change! But really, very tasty.