Wash the asparagus. Snap the ends off (this is a good toddler activity, but in my experience requires supervision as the little ones can get a little over-zealous about the snapping). Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Line up the asparagus on the sheet pan. Spray them with olive oil. No need to toss the asparagus; spraying on one side works just fine. Sprinkle them with some salt.

Pop them in the oven. Check on them at 6 minutes by poking the bottoms of the spears with a fork to feel how tender they are.

When they are ready to come out, they should offer some resistance (you don’t want mushy asparagus), but you should be able to stab it without too much effort. For me, if the oven has preheated properly, 8 minutes at 425F is pretty consistently the magic number.