Asparagus (4)

Beautiful salad with quinoa, beets, Apple and avocado with ginger-mustard dressing

I have long and dearly love the same, which consists of only 4 ingredients (arugula, beets, nuts and cheese, plus sour dressing). But I wanted to balance the dish so that it became a full-fledged lunch/dinner. It turned out just delicious)) In the version with hummus it is also suitable for vegans.

Ingredients (for 3-4 servings):

• Cooked quinoa (can use any, I have tri-color) – I put 3 STL. per serving or approximately 10 tablespoons,

• 1 beet baked/boiled medium size (how to roast beets wrote here),

• 1 sour-sweet juicy Apple,

• 1 ripe avocado,

• Arugula (tastes the best)/spinach/Kale/any green leaves – 2-3 handfuls

• Parsley chopped – 3 tbsp.

• Cilantro chopped – 3 tbsp.

• Chopped mint – 2 tbsp,

• Optional goat cheese, feta, blue cheese can also, even cottage cheese can be granular – to taste, I put about 2 tbsp of cream cheese per serving, or hummus for vegan version

• Roasted walnuts or pine nuts 1 generous handful,

• For decoration (optional): a few pinches of herbs, crispy roasted pumpkin seeds or almond petals, pomegranate grains.

What else can you put in this salad: the beans of edamame, asparagus, raw young zucchini, fennel.

Ingredients for the filling:

You can make the most simple of the oil, lemon juice and sweetener, and it can be a little more interesting:

• 3 tablespoons Apple cider/wine vinegar,

• 3 tbsp lime juice (you can substitute lemon, but lime is more interesting),

• 2 tbsp olive oil (don’t put a lot because the salad already eat fatty avocados and nuts),

• 2 tbsp Jerusalem artichoke syrup, maple syrup or honey

• 2 tsp Dijon mustard,

• 1 tsp grated root ginger,

• Salt/pepper to taste.

How to do:

1. Prepare the base: beets and quinoa, you can even do this the day before.

I cook quinoa as directed on the package, since the method of cooking depends on the variety.

But usually so: thoroughly wash barley, soak it for at least 30 minutes or for a few hours, the seeds swelled, and trash spil, and it can be removed with running water. And most importantly, even after a short soaking, the quinoa will taste bitter.

Then fill it with water in a ratio of 1к2, bring to boil and cook under the lid for 10-15 minutes on medium heat. The idea is all the water should soak into the grains, if this has not happened, and the quinoa is tender, simply drain it in a colander.

I baked the beets.

Wash beets, wrap in parchment and bake for 50-60 minutes at 180C. Speed of cooking depends on the size of the roots, after 40 minutes pierce with a big fruit with a sharp knife if it is without crackle, and a Herculean effort — beets are ready. Let it cool and then you can clean. Cleaned recommend over a sink or bowl with water, so as not to paint all around;)

I usually cook a lot of grits and baked a whole pan of beets and then use them in various recipes.

2. All the other ingredients wash, dry, tear lettuce leaves into small pieces, greens grind. The Apple and beetroot cut into dice, avocados, cut into cubes or slices (depending on how you want to serve with a salad, on that later), immediately sprinkle with the lime or lemon juice, not darkened.

3. Nuts/seeds or bake in the oven (then wrote manul for roasting) or in a skillet. Allow to cool and become crunchy charm.

4. For a vegan version of the recipe for hummus here. In principle, cheese or hummus are optional in this salad, it is also great without them.

5. For the filling just all poured into a small jar, close lid tightly and shake intensely.

6. How to make salad (2 ways):

Method 1 (pictured above). Mixed lettuce, Apple, beets, parsley and 2/3 of the filling, taste for seasoning, add what you need, laid out on plates, top lay slices of avocado, sprinkle them with the remaining filling and decorate.

Method 2 (pictured below). Just mix everything in a bowl (avocado then just fit in the cubes), taste for seasoning, add what you need, lay on plates and decorate top (optional).

Bon appetit!

White asparagus, baked blue cheese, garlic and lemon juice

It is very tasty, and it is not even necessary to love asparagus to be imbued with this dish. It is self-sufficient as a hot snack, as a side dish to fish dishes or as a breakfast with poached eggs.

Recipe:

1. Wash a bunch (500g) of white asparagus and gently peel each stalk with a peeler, retreating from the top about 2-3cm. It is necessary to clean, otherwise the skin after heat treatment will be Oak. And it is better to do this by putting the stem on the surface, otherwise it may break.

2. while peeling asparagus, it’s time to put boiling water with milk (200ml) and a pinch of salt. Milk can be replaced with cream or butter in a smaller volume (as much as the fat content of cream/butter is greater than the fat content of milk (3.5%), so many times you need to reduce the number of ingredients used). Asparagus can be cooked in two ways: standing and lying down.

For the first method, all the stems lead to the same length and tie them with cooking thread. Dishes for this will fit slightly higher than the length of the stems. You need so much water that it does not cover only the very top of the stem.

For the second method, you need a cooking container, the width of which will allow the asparagus to float freely there. You will need so much water that the asparagus does not touch the day.

After boiling the water, spread the asparagus and cook for exactly 3 minutes. Then carefully remove and let dry a little on paper towels.

3. spread the asparagus on a baking sheet, peel 5 cloves of garlic, crush with the flat side of a knife and send it to the asparagus, generously throw blue cheese on top (I had about 100g of Gorgonzola), but 50g of any blue cheese you like is enough. Sprinkle with lemon juice (1-2st. L.) and send to the oven at 200C for a while, until the cheese is well baked. We take out, season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground white / black pepper, serve immediately!

Asparagus. How to choose and cook it.

There are some products that we rarely cook or do not cook at all, because it is simply not clear how to choose them correctly and what is best to do with them.

Asparagus is not an outlandish product, but it is definitely not a frequent guest in many kitchens. Of course, this is due to the price of it, but not only. I can’t change the price, but I can tell my asparagus hacks:

1. General information.

There are three types of asparagus (white is the only one that grows underground, purple is the rarest, green is the most common). Which of them has a more interesting taste is an individual matter, especially since each type of asparagus is good for a particular dish. I don’t like it when they label “delicatessen” on rare types of asparagus, this is not entirely true.

2. The choice of asparagus in the store.

You need the most fresh shoots (not sluggish), without defects, not very long and not thick (the thinner the shoot, the more tender it is, and it most likely will not need to be cleaned, except for white – it is needed anyway). The tops should be tightly closed, the cut shoot is round and not dry. Asparagus should have a slight smell of freshness.

3. Preparation for cooking.

Wash the asparagus thoroughly but gently in cool water. I usually put it in a colander and rinse it under running water for a long time. It is important not to damage the tips.

White asparagus should be cleaned with a peeler or knife, starting immediately under the inflorescence. The hard edge (2-3 cm from the end) is cut off.

Green and purple asparagus can not be cleaned if the shoots are young. If the shoots are thick, then after washing we first get rid of the dry end. You just need to take each shoot with your hands and break it, it will break exactly where the hard part we don’t need begins. In general, it’s a very peaceful activity, almost like popping bubbles on a bubble wrap ☺

If the asparagus has slightly wilted and does not break off by itself, then cut off the part that is slightly lighter and thicker than the rest of the shoot.

4. Cooking asparagus.

Asparagus can be an independent dish, snack, side dish, you can cook soup from it or put it in a salad, and it also reveals its taste in Loran pies and other dishes with eggs / cheese (omelet, frittata, etc.). The subtleties of cooking asparagus depend on each particular dish. But there are also common points that I have calculated for myself:

4.1. E e can be cooked in all possible ways (steamed, boiled, fried, baked). Of these four cooking methods, I don’t really like only one – baking. Asparagus as a result can turn out to be dry and ugly.

In principle, 2-3 minutes is enough to cook asparagus in any way. You can cook it longer, it depends on the specific recipe, the type of asparagus and your taste preferences.

4.2. To preserve the color of green asparagus, you need to blanch it for 2-3 minutes. This can be done either steamed or in boiling salted water. After blanching, we quickly take out the asparagus until it has lost its brightness, and lower it into the ice(!) water. I usually put a few ice cubes in the water. After 1-2 minutes in ice water, asparagus can be taken out and eaten or cooked further.

Having carried out such a manipulation, it is more likely that the asparagus will remain bright green during subsequent cooking.

But it happens that you cook asparagus without the tricks mentioned above, and it still retains color. And it happens on the contrary – I did everything right, and the asparagus subsequently became faded.

4.3. How I cook asparagus.

I like fried asparagus the most after blanching. Blanching is a rapid heat treatment of products with steam or boiling water. I have already described this process above.

It is more convenient for me to blanch vegetables by cooking, rather than steaming. Asparagus can be cooked in two ways: standing and lying down.

For the first method, all the stems must be brought to the same length and tied with cooking thread. Dishes for this will fit slightly higher than the length of the stems. You need so much water that it does not cover only the very top of the stem.

For the second method, you need a cooking container, the width of which will allow the asparagus to float freely there. I usually cook in a deep frying pan so that all the stems fit exactly. It will take so much water that the asparagus does not touch the day.

After boiling the water, add salt to it to taste, then lower the asparagus and cook for 2-3 minutes. After that, carefully transfer the asparagus to ice water with a slotted spoon, and after 2 minutes of cooling, fry for 3 minutes on high heat until characteristic fried. When frying, you can add oil and spices to your taste or according to the recipe.

So asparagus turns out juicy, fragrant, not stiff and not sluggish, and a beautiful color.

4.4. Asparagus with bitterness.

If the asparagus is bitter, most likely it was incorrectly harvested. Unfortunately, there is no way to know about the bitterness in advance, only after cooking it will become clear. I recommend trying a few shoots after heat treatment, if they are bitter, then you can try to cook it longer than usual – about 10-15 minutes. This method is very effective, but not always. If the bitterness after a long cooking still remains, it is better not to mask it with seasonings and sauces, but simply do not eat such asparagus.

5. With what and how to eat asparagus.

This is a universal product! Asparagus is very tasty to eat with eggs, cheese, sour or creamy sauce. Put in quiches, soups, salads, scrambled eggs. Wrap in salmon or bacon/prosciutto.

Baked chicken with broccoli and garlic sauce

I love these dishes, when its main part, garnish and sauce are prepared at the same time. Very convenient!

This is an example of one of them (recipe for 2 chicken or 1 chicken. I prefer pet chickens, but the chicken too tasty):

0. Soak chicken in salt water.

This item is number zero, because it can be omitted if too lazy to bother. But after brining the meat becomes tender and very juicy. Brine to do so: on 1 l of water 50 g of salt and any spices at your discretion. That put, this fragrance and will smell ready chicken. For my taste to the chicken fit a few cloves of garlic and lemon. The brine should completely cover the surface of the product. This can be done in any deep container or in a sealed plastic bag.

The time salting depends on the weight of the product. On 1 kg of weight needs time pickling for about 2 hours. Take into account the weight of each unit of the product, not the total weight. That is, if you salted 2 chickens weighing 1 kg, then you need to keep them in salt water for 2 hours and not 4. It is important not to overdo, and then the fibers become too loose and unpleasant.

Just for information. This type of refinement of taste and texture of meat suitable for any lean meat, any fish and seafood.

1. My 5 sprigs of rosemary, thyme, parsley and 8-10 heads(!) garlic (clear is not necessary). Herbs can be changed at your discretion and can be replaced with dry (1 tbsp each), but fresh is much more fragrant.

Cut garlic into 2 parts across the cloves, place it on a baking sheet cut up, spread on top with 3 sprigs of each spice. If the garlic in the process was not cut or collapsed, it’s OK, you still spread it.

With the rest of the greens, separate the leaves and finely chop them, add to it 2 pinches of salt, pepper to taste, 2 tbsp olive or other vegetable oil and stir.

2. Chicken.

Opolaskivaniem the bird dry with paper towels. If you are using a frozen bird, then fully defrost it in the fridge, wash and dry.

Gently separate the skin on the breast meat under it and put 2-3 tsp of butter. Try to distribute the butter evenly, but not to break the skin.

Next, RUB the entire surface of the chicken (inside too) with a mixture of herbs, spices and oil, which we did in claim 1, stuff the chicken with lemon and cut into 4-6 pieces (I recommend even just to suppress it to the juice separated) and bind legs with cooking string. The contraction of the carcass twine is optional, but it would look more presentable at the end of cooking. Leave the carcass alone for 30-40 minutes, so it’s getting a little marinated and warmed up (in principle it is possible for a few hours set aside to marinate). So the heat will be distributed more evenly. And while it is possible to turn on the oven to heat up to 180C.

Place the chicken breast down on the garlic with the herbs and bake it in the oven for about 40-50 minutes, then turn breast up and bake until ready. Cooking time I expect based on the weight of chicken (1 kg takes approximately 1 hour). In the process, you can periodically pour the chicken resulting juices. A mixture of lemon juice and the chicken juices and fat is something magically delicious.

When the chicken is done is verified by the piercing of the carcass at its thickest point (where the thigh connects to the breast). If the juice is transparent ready.

3. Garnish.

About 30 minutes before end of roasting hens start to garnish. For poultry you can use any green cabbage (broccoli, Brussels sprouts), asparagus or fennel. In this case, I have broccoli (2 heads). Disassemble on inflorescences, my. In a saucepan boil water, and drop in there potseluem broccoli for 3-5 minutes, no more. This is to ensure that the cabbage was subsequently baked, not turned into a biscuit (in broccolini flowers little moisture, so they’re just dry). Frozen cabbage previously blanched (boil) is not necessary. It simply wash. After these manipulations throws the cabbage in a colander and then spread on a baking sheet for the chicken is almost ready, sprinkle with olive oil and spices to taste. Leave until tender (about 10 minutes). During this time, the broccoli to soak up the flavors of herbs and grilled well enough, but do not lose the crispness.

4. Sauce.

Remove the pan from the oven, prepared the chicken with a side dish leave to rest while we make the sauce. In any case, do not cut the meat immediately, and then all the juices will flow out, and do not cover it with anything, otherwise the crispy delicious skin will become sluggish and unpleasant.

For the sauce take all the garlic from the roasting pan, squeezed from skins, add 50 ml. dry white wine, 100-150 ml water/milk/cream, salt and pepper a pinch. All blenderis (better to do this immersion blender in the saucepan, because then the sauce should be slightly warm to evaporate the alcohol from the wine). Warmed up the sauce for 5 minutes over medium heat. Ready.

5. Feed.

Chicken should be very juicy, but with crispy crust, cabbage, as described above, the sauce is viscous and very fragrant. Pour the sauce and garnish the chicken or serve it separately. I’ve got a little bit of Parmesan cheese on the Kale, very fine shades of its taste.