Oven-Roasted Asparagus

I swear I'm going to try more than just asparagus. I still had half the bunch left from the night before though and have read that asparagus doesn't really keep well. I made a lot of changes on this recipe but I still thought it was better than the night before's.

Oven-Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients

• 1 bunch thin asparagus spears, trimmed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional) - I used...
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional) - I used...
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional) I used...

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). I preheated to 325 only because I was making cranberry chicken and that was the temperature it called for.
2. Place the asparagus into a mixing bowl, and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat the spears, then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper. Arrange the asparagus onto a baking sheet in a single layer.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until just tender, 12 to 15 minutes depending on thickness. Sprinkle with lemon juice just before serving.

These were pretty thick spears and I had the temperature lower than 425 so they ended up cooking for about 20 minutes. The texture was pretty much perfect. I love green beans and they had the same texture as perfectly cooked green beans. I think the garlic really added to the flavor. Monday night's aspargus was similar to this recipe but the garlic gave it an extra savoriness (is that even a word?).  I also took the suggestion of a commenter on this recipe and covered the cookie sheet with aluminum foil. I think it kept the excess oil from going everywhere and it made cleanup much quicker.

I'll definitely make this again. I give it an A!

Calories: 123 | Total Fat: 10.8g | Cholesterol: 2mg