Cooking: Simple Roasted Garlic Asparagus Fries

Since this will be my first cooking post (and it's a school night!), I will make this one short and sweet.

One of the things I have discovered this year is that most vegetables get about 10 to 1 million times better when you roast them. The roasting process really brings out the natural sweetness of the vegetable and softens it. For a sweet tooth like me, that is key. I even discovered I actually like brussel sprouts! The teenage me is rolling in her grave at that statement.

Generally, I try to roast some vegetables on nights I have leftovers from previous meals because I have the extra time and it's really easy. Once you learn the technique, you can substitute a variety of vegetables. The key is olive oil, salt, and pepper! All other seasonings/variations are optional and worth the experiment.

Ages ago, before I discovered this new found love of most vegetables (except beets, I still don't like beets), I ordered the Grilled Asparagus fries at the BGR joint and loved them. With this as an inspiration, I decided to see asparagus took to roasting, and realized I had a huge hit! It's by far my favorite thing I have tried. The roasting process makes them softer than in their natural state, but they also have this wonderful crisp to them which I crave. With the right seasonings (*cough*salt*cough), they really are a pretty good healthy alternative to french fries. Plus, it gives you your daily serving of essential fatty acids via the olive oil!

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus fries

Olive Oil (eyeball it but make sure you have enough to coat the asparagus once it has been rolled around)

Salt (to taste)

Pepper (to taste)

Garlic Powder (optional)

To start, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Also, prepare a baking sheet by putting down a layer of aluminum foil.

Then, grab a bunch of asparagus. Take one of the sticks, grab both ends, and slowly bend them until the asparagus snaps into two. This is the asparagus separating the good and the bad. Generally, in the same bunch, the asparagus will snap at the same point. In the above picture, I tested this out with three and found two of them were about equal length.

Once I identified the natural break, I used my knife to cut all of them the same length. It seems like a bit of a waste, but you want to make sure that you are eating the best part of the asparagus.

Then you simply lay the asparagus on the prepared baking sheet, and coat them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder (optional). I usually pour all the ingredients on top & then use my hands to roll the asparagus around. Cooking is messy!

Pop them in the oven for 20-25 minutes and you are done! Asparagus fries! Enjoy!

Recipe

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus fries

Olive Oil (eyeball it but make sure you have enough to coat the asparagus once it has been rolled around)

Salt (to taste)

Pepper (to taste)

Garlic Powder (optional)

Instructions

1) Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F and prepare a baking dish by covering it in aluminum foil

2) Cut the asparagus at their natural break

3) Put the asparagus on the baking dish & coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder 

4) Put them in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes

5) Enjoy!