speaking of asparagus

asparagus has an unusual history in popular american grocery shopping. because

we are now used to responding to long and lean in the world of design, we look for it in food as well...

and while i can't underestimate how much this also has to do with body image, that's fodder for another sort of food blog.

the truth is, fat asparagus is better asparagus. it has a more mature and complex flavor. you might need to peel the lower stalk if it's going to be too tough to cook in the same amount of time as the rest of the vegetable.

broccoli 99c a bunch at ideal this week

and i'm glad i bought it. with what was in my freezer and on my shelf, i made a

dinner i could feed to vegans that same night.

i browned an onion in a tsp each olive oil and san-j thai peanut sauce. then i added one cubed brick of tempeh (more about tempeh above). when it took on a darker color, i added about a cup of ginger zinger juice (on sale at open harvest a while back) and brought to a boil. then added one chopped bunch of broccoli, returned to a simmer and left covered for five minutes. then added two cups cooked brown rice and a few healthy dashes of peanut sauce. Stirred to combine and left partially covered on the stove till ready to serve.

one thing to remember about broccoli. if you're going to serve it in a tossed dish or salad, make sure all the florets are small enough to be bite-sized.

vegan stuffing and mushrooms to go, y'all!

so i stemmed a pint and a half of baby bella mushrooms (didn't these used to be called crimini mushrooms? either way, on sale for a buck fifty a pint

at leon's) and placed the caps in a foil pie pan, shown here. the stems, along with the smaller or less than perfect mushrooms, got chopped up and tossed into a portable container with: one diced bell pepper, a cup of bread crumbs, one package of vegan jerky (also diced), a healthy sprinkling of vegan parmesan cheese, and half a small box of imagine's creamy portobello soup.
by the time i achieved my destination, this mixture had melded together more than shown here--the bread crumbs broke down nicely.

i stuffed the mushroom caps and sprinkled the top of the pan with more of the vegan parmesan, and baked at 400 until it smelled done, less than half an hour. Stuffed mushrooms are really best right out of the oven, so plan and serve accordingly.

broccoli balsamic with hazelnuts

bags of julienned broccoli stalks are in most of the bigger produce sections in town, labeled broccoli slaw. just because it's marketed as cole slaw doesn't mean you need to use it as such. this is just one idea for a quick side dish.
(it's the season for cheaper whole nuts in the produce section, too. have fun [carefully!] cracking the nutshells by giving each one a quick whack of a hammer while still in the plastic bag. as long you don't really smash them hard, the nutmeats are easy to remove from the shells. )

chop and toast a couple dozen hazelnuts in a skillet that has a lid...but don't use the lid yet. add a tablespoon of balsamic salad dressing and about as much water, and then add a bag of broccoli stalks. keep over low heat five minutes, stir occasionally. then add more water and cover to steam another five minutes.

i put some chunks of sheep's milk cheese on the top after taking this off the heat, and re-cover for a couple minutes to soften but not completely melt the cheese.

carrot cucumber and sesame salad

this is a good clean taste on a plate with either a complicated protein flavor, like game, or a delicate one such as whitefish.
first peel, quarter and slice one cucumber; throw that into a bowl with two ribboned carrots and a tablespoon of sesame seeds. in another bowl, mix together white wine vinegar and toasted sesame oil (in a ratio to your taste-- i go for equal parts myself). toss the dressing with the vegetables and chill while cooking the meat and grains.

caramelizing onions, just for the record

this is the first step in about half the things i make, so i thought i'd go over it once. i know people who've thought 'caramelizing onions' meant adding sugar, but that's not the case. it just means heating the onions over low heat till translucent. the process brings out the sugar within the onion, taking away the bitterness (and resultant onion breath). if you take the onions all the way to browned--keep stirring!--you'll be surprised how sweet an onion can be. smells great, too.

making ribbons out of carrot sticks

carrots have a great sweet flavor. they're super cheap and they pop with color. i've never been a big fan of the texture, however... too woody when raw in a salad, whether in chunks or julienned. too mushy when cooked, as in a soup.
i solved my texture problem with this technique, and this is how i always prepare carrots now.
after peeling off the outer layer, which i discard, i just keep on peeling. when i get to the core of the carrot, when it gets difficult to peel, i just eat it right there as a snack.
tossed into a salad raw, or cooked into a warm dish, or even as a layer in a sandwich--it works!

one season blends into another

the late frost led to strange kitchen-fellows today. first, the last culling of a friend's organic garden...green tomatoes and bell peppers...and then, an almost-ripe, in-season, reasonably-priced (68 cents!) persimmon from super saver.
i chopped all these up, together with an onion and a jalapeno, which is what you see here. i sauteed this mixture, long and low, in olive and peanut oil. in another pan i prepared quinoa, figuring the nuttiness of the grain would balance out any unwanted tartness in the fruit and vegetable mix. the slow, caramelizing heating of the fresh ingredients took care of that for me even before tossing the two panfuls together--for a rich, comforting plate of food. pictures of that to follow.

which came first: the mushroom or the egg?

no matter how deep a sale i can find on sliced mushrooms, i never buy them. generally, they look awful and not fresh at all.
i understand the impulse to buy them--because of the structure of mushrooms, they can be difficult to cut into uniform pieces...and pieces uniform of size result in pieces uniform of texture when cooked, which is extremely important.
the day i first cut a mushroom with a hard-boiled-egg-slicer remains a banner day in my culinary existence.

hard squash

it's ninety degrees today, but the fall squash is back into the stores. it will always be on sale somewhere for 49/lb--check the links on the top right for sale prices--so don't pay more than that unless it's organic or some crazy heirloom variety you just can't resist.
baking squash is ridiculously easy. get the oven to 375. put the squash in an ovensafe pan, and pierce with a knife. (don't bother trying to slice it half at this point--it will be much easier later.) as soon as liquid or steam starts escaping from the piercings, it's done. should be about an hour. then remove from the oven, slice in half. scoop out seeds--i find a serrated grapefruit spoon works well. then you can either scoop out the meat and mash up with the dressing, or serve the halves intact with dressing poured in. my standard dressing is orange juice, maple syrup, butter (you can substitute some olive oil), and freshly ground pepper...in whatever ratio works for you.

brussels sprouts

showing up in stores again at a reasonable price. i prepare them for cooking by cutting off any remaining stalk and removing any discolored outer leaves. then i cut an x into the base, which might or might not help them heat more evenly. after that, i soak for a few minutes in cold water to dislodge any buried grit, and rinse, and commence to cooking.

leeks onto the web

two pieces of advice about leeks: buy leeks that are uniformly cylindrical through the white part...if they bulge at the end, they're old and will be tough. and, don't bother trying to get all the dirt out before you chop them up. slice them up however you want and then rinse. worlds easier.
these leeks went into a pan with grated ginger, toasted sesame oil, and freshly ground pepper. i kept this over low heat for about ten minutes. then when i put the tuna on (see below), i covered the leeks and removed from the heat. served the tuna on a bed of leeks and rice. big hit all around.

still stalking broccoli

i have two regular ways of preparing broccoli, and they're the same process but with one of these two combinations of ingredients: shallots and almonds, or onion and peanuts (this one gets some tamari). no shallots/lb at hy-vee (comment redacted), so i went the onions and peanuts route this time.
soften up the onions, til they're buttery, in peanut and toasted sesame oil (use olive oil for shallots/almonds), and you can keep this going till you're five minutes away from everything else hitting the table as long as you keep an eye on it. add a handful of chopped nuts, stir while everything gets acquainted. then add enough liquid of your choice and adjust heat higher to start steaming the broccoli you add next. adjust heat lower (to simmer/steam) and cover till broccoli's almost done, then move to a cooler place on the stove top...the pan and the oil within will stay warm enough to keep contents cooking even after you turn off the heat, so keep that in mind.

stalking broccoli

you'll find broccoli sold both 'by the each' and 'by the pound.' when it's by the pound, i go for less stalk, just to end up with less waste. the broccoli on sale this weekend at hy-vee, though, was by the each, so i picked the longest stalks i could. i forgot how tasty trimmed and sliced broccoli stalks are, either to munch on while cooking or when thrown in the broccoli dish.