It’s spring time and that means that asparagus is popping up on New York City’s fruit stands! These guys not only have the best produce, they also have the best prices; I can buy three or four bananas for a dollar from the stand on my corner or one for 90 cents at Starbucks! I even once found a five-for-a-dollar stand, but that’s rare. I digress. So I bought a bunch of asparagus this week. It cost me $2.
A couple of dollars and 15 minutes is all it takes to make this dish. Actually, maybe it takes a bit longer for your oven to get up to 400 degrees than mine. My oven in my new apartment is mini; 20 inches. It still has four burners (that are quite close together) and still fits my half-sheet pans perfectly, as well as my 5-1/2 qt. round Le Creuset. So I can’t complain. The best part about my oven? It heats up extremely quickly. I have a handy little oven thermometer that tells me so, since it lacks a fancy digital display. Where was I? Oh, yes! So all of this recipe needs you to do is roast the asparagus for 10 minutes and viola! Nutritious and delicious.
What makes this asparagus red hot is the red hot paprika I used in addition to plain old salt and pepper. It gave it a nice kick and a little diversity from the garlic/olive oil/salt/pepper roasted veggies that I usually make.
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch of asparagus
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon red hot paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions:
- Break off the woody ends of the asparagus and arrange spears in a single layer on a foil-coated baking sheet.
- Mix olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika in a bowl. Pour over the asparagus.
- Roll the asparagus around the tray until evenly coated.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
We only ate 1/2 of these spears for lunch, so the next morning I chopped them up and made a Red Hot Roasted Asparagus Frittata. The addition of the paprika was extra appreciated in the eggs, topped with cheese and served with hot sauce!
