Delightful Asparagus

With a pound of asparagus and no desire to roast it again--even though I love roasted asparagus, I was lucky enough to see this recipe in the New York Times.

The veggies release their juices into the olive oil and make a really delicious sauce. I used my portobellos rather than shiitakes in this recipe. I would up the mushroom component in the future because I really love mushrooms. Also, I may cut back on the tarragon in the future as the littlest member of the family found the anise quality a tad off-putting.

Baked Asparagus With Mushrooms, Prosciutto and Couscous

1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed
¼ pound portobello mushrooms, stems removed, sliced ¼-inch thick
2 ounces cubed prosciutto
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons; additional for drizzling
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
Grated nutmeg
3 tarragon sprigs
¾ cup whole-wheat couscous.


1. Heat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (it should be twice as long as pan). Lay asparagus in a pile in center. Scatter mushrooms and prosciutto on top. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and season with ¼ teaspoon salt, the pepper and nutmeg. Toss vegetables to coat evenly. Lay tarragon over top.

2. Fold parchment to completely enclose vegetables, and staple top and sides shut (or tie up with string). Transfer pan to oven and bake for one hour. Asparagus should be just cooked through. If too crisp, return to oven until done to taste.

3. In a small pot over medium-high heat, bring ¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons water, 2 teaspoons olive oil and remaining salt to a simmer. Stir in couscous and remove pot from heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork.

4. Spoon couscous onto serving plates and drizzle with oil. Divide prosciutto and vegetables, and their juices, among the plates and serve.

What To Do With All That Lettuce, #4

Here's a way to essentially make a salad without needing to call it a salad--make asian lettuce wraps. And thank you Martha Stewart Everyday Food for inspiration found in this recipe.


I changed the recipe a bit by using less soy, less sugar, adding sriracha, omitting the jalapeño, and adding a good squirt of lime juice.

Thai Lettuce Wrap Ups

⅜ cup soy sauce
⅛ cup water
4 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced ginger (I used the stuff in the tube that you keep in your freezer)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons Sriracha-- the "rooster" garlic chili condiment
1 pound ground turkey (Martha says 93 percent lean, I used ground turkey thighs)
Juice from 2 limes
Lettuce leaves--I had red leaf and romaine--the romaine doesn't fold up

Combine soy sauce, water, fish sauce, sugar in a bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves--this takes longer than you think it will. Set sauce aside.

Saute shallot, ginger and garlic in grapeseed oil. Add ground turkey and brown and break up. When the turkey is nearly cooked add Srirarcha and the reserved sauce. Heat through. Remove to serving bowl and juice limes over the meat. Fill lettuce leaves with ground turkey, wrap up and eat.

You could add shredded cucumber and carrot to the wrap ups as well and that would be really delicious.

What To Do With All That Lettuce, #3

Much like Karen's beloved, I love salad. Greens dressed simply with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper truly make me happy. My husband, on the other hand, grew up on cooked veggies. But, even I have trouble getting through all the lettuce that has been arriving. It doesn't help that sometimes the lettuce arrives screaming for immediate use. Often the hydroponic lettuce looks as if the due date requires the past tense...

Faced with two heads of hydroponic lettuce that didn't look like they were going to make it dinner that evening, I went the soup route as well, but decided to give it a bit of tang with Kefir.

Kefir Lettuce Soup

2 heads hydroponic boston lettuce, cleaned and chopped
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 russet potato, peeled and cut in ¼ dice
1 quart chicken stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
½ Cup Kefir

Head the olive oil in a soup pot and add the shallot until translucent. Add the potato and saute for 5 minutes. add the lettuce and wilt--about two minutes. Add the chicken stock and cook until potatoes are done. Blend with an immersion blender or do in batches with a blender. Return to pot, add salt and pepper and kefir and simmer gently.

I also dropped of few stale pieces of baguette on top and that was amazingly tasty.

This Week

This is what arrived today:

Romaine Lettuce
Radicchio
Asparagus
Kale
Broccoli
Carrots
Potatoes
Onions
Apples

This is what I successfully used so far this past week:
Eggplant in fairly disastrous eggplant croquettes
Red cabbage in sauteed cabbage
Broccoli in cheese sauce
Stuffed portobello mushrooms
Fruit, mostly eaten as is, but some as apple and pear sauce for my 8-month-old daughter
Spinach, simply sauteed

Still left:
bok choy
some lettuce
some red cabbage