Fennel & (Raw) Asparagus Salad

Posted on May 3, 2015 by melsmosaic

Was flipping through Bon Appetit the other day and came across another recipe I needed to try. It had two of my favorite veggies in it — Fennel and Asparagus Salad. In the whole piece in the magazine, it is part of a pork shoulder cutlet recipe (I just didn’t feel like making the whole think, I had already had salmon ready to go).

1 small fennel bulb, cored, thinly sliced, plus 2 tablespoons fennel fronds
6 asparagus spears, shaved lengthwise into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving
2 tablespoons olive oil

For the asparagus, it is never too easy to shave them. I’ve had this one veggie peeler that is supposed to be good. Have you ever seen or used one of these? I always try to give it another shot. It scrapes, cuts and just does not make anything easy.

Finally just found my good old fashioned carrot peeler. That made it much easier.

Combine fennel, fennel fronds, asparagus, onion, and parsley in a medium bowl. Toss with lemon juice and olive oil; season with kosher salt and pepper.

This salad was so refreshing and had a great crunch to it. Totally worth making!

Asparagus Salad with Manchego and Almonds

Posted on June 26, 2014 by melsmosaic

As I continue going through some Cooking Light recipes, the next one I tried was an awesome asparagus salad. The proper title — Shaved Asparagus Salad with Manchego and Almonds. What was unique about this is that the asparagus is raw. I can count on less than one hand the amount of times I’ve eaten un-cooked asparagus. Game on! When I made this, I did not add the egg because of everything else I was making for dinner, I didn’t need that extra bit of protein/food.

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar (I used tarragon vinegar because I didn’t want to buy a fresh bottle of sherry vinegar just for this and that’s what I had on hand)
1 1/2 teaspoons walnut oil (again, didn’t want to buy something new, so used some sesame oil)
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic (of course I used more than that!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound large asparagus
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
8 cups water
2 tablespoons white vinegar
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted
1 ounce Manchego cheese, shaved (about 1/4 cup)

Directions

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.
Using a sharp peeler, thinly peel asparagus to equal 3 cups asparagus ribbons. Add asparagus and parsley to bowl; toss gently to coat. *They make this sound SO easy. Not so much. With a carrot, yet, but with a smaller asparagus spear/stalk, not so much. After awhile on each one, I’d stop and just throw a larger piece in the bowl.
*THIS IS THE PART I DIDN’T DO* Combine 8 cups water and white vinegar in a large skillet; bring to a simmer. Break each egg into a custard cup, and pour each gently into pan. Cook 3 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove eggs from pan using a slotted spoon.
Place about 2/3 cup asparagus mixture on each of 4 plates. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons almonds; top each serving with 1 egg. Sprinkle evenly with Manchego cheese. *I don’t get this fancy. I tossed everything in a bowl.

It was DELICIOUS! Crisp, fresh and some nice tang with all the flavors. Highly recommend it! I can’t decide if next time I’m going to try cutting the asparagus with a mandolin or V-slicer or cutting them in half and using the food processor with the proper blade. I just need to hope the hit the blade horizontally to slice properly. Though, I guess even if not, they’ll taste the same!

Asparagus Hummus

Posted on February 11, 2014 by melsmosaic

Just made this recipe. Delicious!! The only changes I made were that I used a little bit of tahini instead of the olive oil. I also made half the recipe vs the whole. Great, unique flavor!! Thanks for the recipe, Homemade Delish!

Homemade Delish

My family and I love purchasing and making fresh hummus in our house. I was interested in trying to make a new flavor. So I went ahead and made an asparagus hummus to enjoy with some crackers and veggies. The flavor of the asparagus really comes out. I think this is just another way to add more nutrition to your hummus. This hummus has a refreshing finish too. Enjoy as a snack or with your next get together.

Ingredients:

2 (15.5 oz) Can of Chickpeas, drained and rinsed

10 Asparagus Spears

3 Garlic cloves

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1/2 to 1 cup of Extra Virgin Olive oil

Juice and Zest of 1 Lemon

Preparation:

In a medium pot bring water to a boil and add asparagus. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. In a medium bowl with cold water and ice add asparagus. This will stop the cooking…

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Stove-Top Smoked Salmon

Posted on December 22, 2013 by melsmosaic

Last night I got to enjoy a wonderful dinner of smoked salmon…done on the stove via stove-top smoker. It was amazing. All I had to do was provide wine. Easy!

For the main dish, you just need put some smoking chips in the bottom of the smoker then cover them with foil.

Season the fish with spices of choice (tarragon, S&P were used), then close the smoker.

You cook/smoke the salmon for about 25 minutes (this was 1/2lb+) — you start it at medium-high heat to get the chips smoking, leaving the back end of the smoker open, then keep it going at medium heat until cooked through.

Carefully remove the lid (hot pads!) and heaven has arrived!

We also prepared some pan-seared asparagus seasoned with rosemary and garlic salt.

The final product was the fish, asparagus, dolmas, olives, marinated mushrooms and wonderful Penner-Ash Pinot Noir. Not a bad dinner at all.

U.S. Open the Wine

Posted on June 19, 2013 by melsmosaic

The title just makes me think of Jeopardy! with the great ‘Before and After’ category. I can never get those right. But in this case, the scenario was nailed right on the head!

Last Sunday, golf! Annual U.S. Open on Father’s Day. If you can’t be at the event watching or playing (hit the course for 9 holes on Saturday), what better to do than watch at home while enjoying some good wine and food? Got together with my vino-loving friends to spend countless hours watching those little white balls fly through the air, go into the water, hit the high grass or sink into that hole.

The beverage menu for the day started with some nice Prosecco. After that, we opened my contribution to the day. It was from a winery I visited while in Sonoma last year. Small little place with huge flavor in what they produce — Scribe. We enjoyed the 2008 Syrah. And these guy put some tough-to-remove wax on the top of the bottles (1/4″ thick or so) — darn that was tough to open, but made the wine taste even better.

To pair with my wine I opted to bring non-normal snacks…not just some quick dips, etc. I was craving some asparagus so opted for Roasted Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus. Just lightly coat the asparagus with olive oil, wrap each piece with prosciutto then place under the broiler for about 3 minutes, remove quickly, turn, then continue roasting until crisp. Voila, delicious! Can serve hot or cold. Ok, remembered to take a picture when there was one left.

Then also made some Sauteed Mushrooms with Asian Flair and Persian Cucumbers. Just cut some mini Portobellos into cubes and tossed them with soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil. Put them in a pan on the stove and sauteed them for a bit and the sauce got a thick. Put some sesame seeds in there for flair. Good!!! Then took some of those little Persian Cukes and cut them into decent thickness slices and tossed with lemon juice and salt and served on the side.