Fast & Easy Oven-Roasted Asparagus

Vegetables for the Lazy (or time-pressed) . . .

This is a super fast & easy oven-roasted asparagus recipe that produces perfect asparagus every time.

Over the past 5 years or so, there’s been one nearly fail-safe method for cooking nearly any vegetable that has been my go-to. At this point, I barely need to give the vegetables at dinner any thought because I can just throw them in 10 minutes before we sit down to eat. (Unless, of course, I’ve planned something special or have one of my kid-friendly vegetable dishes specifically in mind for dinner.)

The process is simple. Essentially, I spray the vegetable victim of the evening down with olive oil, dust it with salt, and then blast it with very high heat in the oven for a short period of time. The heat level and timing will vary depending on the vegetable in question. Today’s victim is asparagus.

The One Principle

The one principle is to not cook the vegetables at such a high heat that you burn the sh*t out of the tops of them before they are a good level of “cooked” all the way through. For instance, cauliflower cooks much faster than green beans. Cauliflower might need 5 minutes under the broiler, but green beans will likely need at least 10 minutes. For this reason, the cauliflower can be cooked at a higher heat than the green beans. I don’t typically cook green beans under the broiler.

For asparagus, I like to cook it hot, but not broiling: I like it crisp but not charred. This means a relatively short blast of heat at 425F.

Your approach may vary slightly depending on the oven you use. Between living in various apartments in my 20s and early 30s and visiting family, I’ve used a lot of ovens over the years. What I’ve learned is that every oven is a little bit different. Some broilers are hotter than others. Certain ovens have hot spots. Some ovens have convection heat. Other ovens were constructed in the 50s and incredibly tiny (Have you ever had a Thanksgiving turkey literally touching the sides of the oven?? We managed, it didn’t feel right.)

Point being, because this approach generally relies on high heat and a short period of time, you need to keep a close eye on your veggie the first couple of times you use this approach. But you will be glad you took the time to figure it out, because this method truly saves us SO much time.

Equipment

For this fast & easy oven-roasted asparagus, the only non-negotiable item is a sheet pan. The other items are just very handy. Not only for this recipe, but for cooking in general. Due to my laziness when it comes to cleaning, I often line the sheet pan with aluminum foil, which means that cleanup is essentially me taking the aluminum foil off of the pan and throwing it in the trash.

(See here for my general time-saving tips regarding kitchen equipment.)

FYI, you can totally do this without all the equipment (as I often do whenever I visit family and prep dinner). But the equipment is totally worth it to keep at home.

You will NEED:

• a metal sheet pan.

You will LIKE HAVING:

• aluminum foil;
• a salt dredge;
• olive oil spray (ideally one you fill yourself, so you can use the good stuff).

Now, on to the procedure.

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