i love asparagus

Yes. You read the title correctly. I absolutely love asparagus (even though it makes my pee smell weird). I will buy a bunch of it at the store and if I didn't have to share with Scott, I would eat the whole thing in one sitting. Like, seriously.  Some of you out there might be questioning my amore to this particular vegetable but you haven't tried it the way my mom makes it.

Now, I don't know where she got this recipe so I can't give the original person credit, but my mom started making it a few years ago and I've been obsessed ever since.  I thought I would start occasionally sharing some of my favorite recipes (you'll get a peek at what our dinner table is like) and I knew I'd start with this.

What you'll need:

1 bunch of asparagus
olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves
salt
pepper
half a lemon (or lemon juice)

First you start with a bunch of asparagus from the store. I get it fresh from the produce section. I try to get the bunch with the slimmer spears. The bigger they are the more tough. Make sure you wash them... duh.

Then you need to break or cut off the bottom of the spears. You can you usually tell the right place to snap because it will do just that, snap right off. If you are too high the asparagus will be flexible and won't break off easily. You do this because the bottom of the spears are generally tough.

After you finish getting rid of the bottoms, you spread them out in a baking dish. I use 9 x 13 pyrex. Once you have evenly spread them out, you take some olive oil, my guess is about 3 tbsp, and drizzle over asparagus. Coat well. ( side note: I don't usually measure the olive oil, I just kind of eye ball it) Now take your garlic cloves. I use about 3 depending on the bunch. You can use more or less depending on how you like garlic. Use a garlic press to crush garlic and spread on asparagus and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pop into 350 degree oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Once you take those yummy asparagus out take the half of your lemon (my mother says fresh is better but I don't always have those so I'll use lemon juice from the refrigerator) and squeeze onto asparagus. Coat well. Taste a spear. Add more salt, pepper, lemon to taste.

bon appetit