by the pound

We buy lots of things based on how much they weigh.  Fruit, vegetables.... well, I guess that's about it.  Many things come in 'pound' packages I guess.  That must be what I'm thinking about.

Anyway.

We were having brunch last weekend, and I was in charge of the asparagus.  I love asparagus.  I don't think I'd ever had it when I was younger, so I didn't know I liked it.  But I do.  Don't think you like asparagus?  Try it again!

So we headed to Price Chopper and I picked out 3 bunches of thin, fresh asparaugus.

This asparagus cost $2.99 a pound.  No problem!  Combined, it was a little over 3 pounds.  No problem at all!  It was fresh and crisp, I was happy. 

The first thing you do with asparagus is trim it.  This is the fun part!  You hold each spear on both ends, and bend.  The asparagus will naturally break where it needs to, and you'll be left with 2 pieces: the fresh part, with the 'tree' end, and the throwaway ends.

Here are the keepers!

And the toss pile:

Now I'm sure there are many things you can do with asparagus ends.  I don't feel like taking the time to google it.  But here's the deal: I don't want to do anything else with the ends.  I don't want the ends!  And I sure as heck don't want to pay for something I'm just going to break off and throw away when I get home!  Probably atleast a quarter of the weight, if not more, came from those worthless (to me) ends.

In my mind I picture myself standing in the produce section, breaking off asparagus ends and tossing them on the floor.  Probably wouldn't go over too well.  But it's tempting.

Okay.  Off my soapbox, back to the asparagus.

The rest is easy.  Oven at 400 degrees.  Arrange the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Drizzle on some EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for about 10 minutes or so. 

It'll be sizzly and starting to brown.  It's sooo delicious.  I ate a piece just to make sure it was done and tasted good.  Okay, that's a lie, I ate 2 pieces.  It was good.

And now I want some asparagus.