Marinated Spring Vegetables

I picked up some beautiful asparagus the other day, for a really reasonable price. The stalks were all thin, not the usual thick. I couldn't wait to use them.

Marinated Spring Vegetables

1# thin asparagus, tough bottoms removed and tender parts cut into 2 inch pieces

Marinade:
2 c. vegetable broth
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
2 bay leaves
3/4 t. thyme

8 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 bulb fennel, stalks removed and bulb sliced
Feathery fennel fronds

Boil 2 c. of water and add the asparagus. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain, and immediately rinse under cold water. Drain again. Refrigerate.

In another pot, bring the marinade ingredients to a boil. Add the carrots and cook about 5 minutes.

Pour marinade and carrots into a ziploc baggie and refrigerate.

About an hour before serving, add the asparagus and fennel to the marinade. Chop a few of the feathery fennel fronds and also add to the marinade. Leave at room temperature.

To serve, drain the marinade and place vegetables in a bowl.

Enjoy!

Lemony Asparagus Rice

Lemony Asparagus Rice

One onion, chopped
1# asparagus, cut into pieces (I use only the tops)
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
3/4 t. thyme
3/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 c. uncooked rice (I used a brown and wild mix)
1 c. vegetable broth
1/2 of a lemon

Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan, and add the onion and asparagus. Saute until onion just begins to soften. Stir in the thyme, salt and pepper. Add the rice with the vegetable broth and 1-1/2 c. water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Let cook 30 minutes or until rice is done. Zest the lemon over the rice, then squeeze the juice into it. Stir to mix well. Serve. Enjoy!

Spring Dining

I visit my parents every weekend. Since Easter always falls on a Sunday, we decided to go whole hog (no Easter ham pun intended) for the day and made up a number of dishes, much like we've done for Thanksgiving.

Maple Glazed Tofu

1/4 c. maple syrup 
2 T. soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 t. garlic salt
1/8 t. ground black pepper
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and sliced

Mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper. Place the tofu in a shallow baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once. Preheat oven to 400.  Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake uncovered 20 minutes.

I added more of the sauce before baking. My son complained it made the tofu too sweet. This was not a problem for me. ;)

Broccoli With Cashews

1 package frozen broccoli spears
1/4 c. coarsely chopped cashews
1 T. vegan butter
2 t. finely shredded lemon rind

Cook broccoli according to package directions; drain. In a small skillet, cook, stirring constantly, the cashews in melted butter for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon rind. Pour over broccoli spears.

Corn, Okra and Tomatoes

1/3 c. vegan butter
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 package frozen corn kernels
2 c. frozen cut okra
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper

In a large skillet, saute the bell pepper, onion and garlic in the butter for 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and continue cooking for 5 to 7 minutes, or until heated through. Serve immediately.

Roasted Spring Vegetables

1/2 lbs. carrots, cut diagonally in 1/2" pieces
2 lbs. asparagus, ends snapped off and spears cut in half
2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

Line two baking pans with foil; place carrots in one and the asparagus in the other. Toss each with 1 T. olive oil, 1/4 t. salt and 1/8 t. pepper. Bake carrots in the oven with the tofu. Remove the tofu and bump up the oven temp to 450. Stir the carrots and add the pan of asparagus to the oven next to the carrots. Roast the veggies about 10 minutes until they are lightly browned.

My mom added some cinnamon glazed sweet potatoes and a second dish of regular white potatoes to the mix.

Now dine in style. Break out the nicer dishes and pile on the deliciousness.

Summer Stir-fry

When it is hot outside (and hot inside when your ac decides to stop working!), you don't want to spend time over a hot appliance. Salads are often the wisest choice, but sometimes you just want something a little warmer than that. Stir-fries are an easy choice, as they cook up fast.

Summer Stir-fry

Olive oil
One bunch of fresh aspargus, tough parts removed and composted, tender ends snapped into smaller pieces
One onion, sliced
One package sliced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 t. Italian seasoning
One tomato, cut into chunks
Salt and pepper to taste

In the olive oil, saute the asparagus, onion, mushrooms and garlic until veggies are heated through and take on that bright look sauteed vegetables do. Add the seasonings and tomato. Stir-fry until vegetables are heated and cooked through.

Serve over some rice and a nice drizzle of Braggs Aminos. Enjoy!

The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat Chinese,  to describe the technique of cooking in a wok. Stir-frying is similar to sauteing, in that it is a method of quick cooking food in a hot pan with a small amount of fat for a relatively short period of time. The goal being to brown the food while preserving the color, texture and flavor of the individual ingredients.

I don't currently have a wok, but if I did I would get one made of mild steel. It is preferred for its heat transfer properties; thin stamped stainless steel or aluminum just don't hold enough heat, and cast aluminum takes to long to heat upand cool down. I would avoid anything teflon coated. A properly conditioned iron wok is at least as non-stick as any teflon coating ever made.

A new wok must be seasoned before use. Scrub it well with soap and water to remove any coating applied to protect it during shipping, rinse well, and dry. Place the wok over low heat, wipe lightly with vegetable oil and let stand on the heat for 10 minutes. Cool and wipe with paper towels to remove the dark film. Repeat the oiling, heating, cooling and wiping procedure until the paper towels come away clean. Once a wok has been seasoned, it should be cleaned with plain water only using a wok brush, never with soap or abrasive cleaners, then dried and oiled before storing. If the metal ever rusts, clean with steel wool or fine sand paper and re-season.

If you like to cook Asian dishes, a wok will become indispensable.