ALSO: Impromptu poll of people-less-northern-than-NY (I refuse to admit that NoVA is the south): Have you ever heard of broccoli rabe? How would you prounounce it? This is for science.

Anyway, I just had this (again) for lunch with leftover dirty rice – though my semi-Cajun roommate informs me that it’s not true dirty rice unless it’s pink?! – and it is not only delicious, but it’s also, for those of us who do not have steamers so much as have collanders and pots and lids that don’t really fit but get by, a bit easier.

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Get some asparagus. Wash & snap off the ends.

2b.If it’s not nice, thin young asparagus you may want to peel the thick ends a bit to get rid of some of the woodiness.

3. Dump it on a baking sheet. Drizzle a little (c. 2 tsp for a single serving?) olive oil on, grind pepper and sea salt on as well. Roll it all around to coat evenly.

4. Arange the asparagi so the thickest bits are in the center of the sheet and the delicate tips are pointed out.

5. Roast 10-15 minutes; check it at 8 or 10 to see how tender it’s getting.

6. Om nom nom.

6b. For bonus decadence points, wrap each stalk in a couple inches of prosciutto, a la Everyday Italian lady, which is where I got this idea in the first place. But she claims this is finger food, which is a manifest lie, unless you enjoy having your fingers covered in pork fat and olive oil (it is so delicious you will not care.)