When Life Gives You Asparagus On Sale, Make Asparagus

I know.  The title is pretty deep.

So I found asparagus at Fred Meyer last week for $1 something a bunch and it was a rather large bunch.  It was also nice and thin, so it's easy to sautee.  When I was a kid, I hated asparagus - limp, rubbery, bitter stalks of torture.  Then one night I tried the sauteed asparagus my brother made out of politeness and I was very surprised to discover I loved it!

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat.  Add a few cloves of minced garlic and heat it about 30 seconds or so, just until the garlic becomes fragrant.  Burnt garlic will ruin a meal.

Add the asparagus, tossing pretty frequently.  I cooked it for about 6 or 7 minutes.  I like it slightly tender and crispy.  Limp asparagus is lame.

Move to a large dish so you can squeeze a pretty generous amount of lemon over it, then a dash of salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and fresh Parmesan cheese. 

We ate this just now with some magic chicken (cheap) and potatoes baked in the microwave (also cheap).  That was half a package of chicken thighs, which would be about $5.  The asparagus was about $1.38 and the potatoes were only a couple dollars for the whole bag, which we only used part of.  So the whole meal was less than $10.