The Return of Simplicity

Oh the beauty of simplicity.  I swear, nothing is simple anymore.  Everyone has at least two cell phones (work and personal), a home phone number, a work phone number, at least three different email addresses, hundreds of channels on the television... Geez! I'm beginning to feel worn out already and all I wanted to do was tell my sister that there is a new Grey's episode on TV tonight (yippee!!).  I think I have met 7 year olds with schedules packed full of more meetings, practices, events, dates, and lessons than the CEO of my company.  Life should be simple.  According to me, everyone should only have two goals each day.  First off, everyone should smile every day of the year.  Not those fake smiles that you plaster on your face when you walk through the halls of your office... but a real genuine smile.  The kind of smile that makes your eyes light up and say, my day would not have been the same had I not seen you.  The kind of smile that makes you human.  The kind of smile that makes you feel.  All I see everyday are smirks, pouts, and thin lipped expressions backed by multitudes of expletives... yikes!  That is no way to live.  The second goal is really in support of goal number one, but in my opinion the second thing everyone should do each and every day is give.  Give a hug, give your neighbor a pen, do your friend a favor, do something each day that helps someone else achieve goal number one.  Once you have achieved these two goals, you will have had a great day.

The recipe below takes all of these ideas and makes it into a dish that everybody loves using only the simplest of ingredients.  Good and simple because simple is good.

Roasted Asparagus and Peppers

1 lb asparagus spears
1 medium sized bell pepper, sliced into strips
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 clove minced garlic, if desired

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Rinse and clean asparagus and pepper.  Slice off or break off tough ends of the asparagus.  Core the pepper and slice into strips approximately the same width as your asparagus.   Lay the asparagus and pepper strips on a flat baking sheet covered in aluminum foil.  Drizzle olive oil and toss the veggies to coat.  Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and bake for 10-15 minutes.