Asparagus Mimosa blooms with color and rich flavor

This was just as pretty as it was healthy—a very nice touch to Hubby’s birthday dinner this past weekend. Asparagus Mimosa—doesn’t it just sound appealing? The name relates to the fact that the grated hard-cooked eggs have the look of yellow mimosa blossoms, according to the original recipe source.

The diced smoked sausage was an added extra to the fresh asparagus that had been cooked in boiling salted water, drained, and then plunged into ice water to make it crisp-tender.

We enjoyed this dish served both hot and cold. It was a great accompaniment to the grilled-chicken main course (more on that later this week). A little hot sauce (I used Tabasco) was the perfect crowning touch.

Asparagus Mimosa

1 pound fresh asparagus

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 grated hard-cooked egg

2 tablespoons sautéed finely diced spicy smoked sausage (I used turkey sausage)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives

hot sauce

Trim fresh asparagus. Cook in boiling water to cover 1 to 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain. Plunge asparagus into ice water; drain. Toss with cider vinegar, olive oil, salt (I used salt substitute), and pepper. Place on a serving platter; top with grated hard-cooked egg, sausage, and chives. Serve with hot sauce. Makes 4 servings. (Source: Southern Living, April 2013)

Fish? Check. Veggies? Check. Simple? Check again. Who could ask for more?

What a terrific meal-in-one—so great, in fact, that Hubby and I prepared it two different times, from scratch, within the same week: fish, asparagus, potatoes—all roasted in the oven until the veggies are slightly crunchy and the salmon flakes tender.

I zeroed in on this recipe for Oven-Roasted Salmon, Asparagus, and New Potatoes for two reasons. One, I’m still having fun using my supply of fresh lemons that I toted home from the West. Two, one of those uncomfortable necessities—the annual physical exam—looms on my schedule in the days ahead. No concerns anticipated; I look forward to a good report, but fish fish fish and more fish usually makes for a happy cholesterol level in the labwork. I’m for that.

In this dish, from simplyrecipes.com, the diced-up potatoes, which have been coated with a little olive oil and salt (or salt substitute), go in the oven first to start the browning process. After 20 minutes the seasoned, sliced asparagus is stirred into the olive oil and coated. With the veggies pushed to the side, the fish is placed in the pan to cook right alongside the veggies. As soon as it’s cooked through and the potatoes for sure are done, out emerges the finished meal.

In this process the veggies become a little crisp and a tad crunchy. That texture adds to the enjoyment. I can’t tell you how easy all this is and how virtuous you feel after you consume it.

Best of all, clean-up is instantaneous, with only one pan to fuss over. You’re outta the kitchen in a hurry!

Oven-Roasted Salmon, Asparagus, and New Potatoes

1 pound small new potatoes, scrubbed clean and halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 pound medium asparagus, trimmed and sliced on the diagonal, in 1-inch-long pieces

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (I had fresh parsley on hand, so I subbed that)

1 strip of lemon zest

1 small garlic clove, coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

fresh ground pepper

2 (8- to 10-ounce) salmon fillets or steaks cut about 1-inch thick

1 lemon, cut into large wedges (plus I squeezed some extra fresh lemon juice over all, especially onto the fish)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large, shallow baking dish (not glass) coat the potatoes with olive oil and salt. Arrange the potatoes, cut-side down, in the baking dish; roast for 10 to 12 minutes until the potatoes begin to brown on the bottom. Turn the potatoes over; roast another 10 minutes until they are browned on top. Remove the baking dish from the oil. In a medium bowl toss the asparagus with the chopped dill, lemon zest, garlic, salt, and a little olive oil. Add the asparagus mixture to the potatoes; stir to combine. Push the veggies to the side of the baking dish to make room for the salmon. Sprinkle salt (or salt substitute) onto the salmon; return the baking dish to the oven. Roast the salmon and veggies for 10 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through. Makes 4 servings.

Yummy grape tomatoes star with asparagus in this speedy summer side dish

If we have one of ’em, we have a million. From my back porch they look like miniature red balls decorating a tiny forest of Christmas trees. We can’t even remember planting grape tomatoes; they’re probably some relic of a planting effort of previous years, but they are everywhere in our garden.

When Hubby goes out with the gathering basket and brings in the most recent harvest, the two of us stand at the kitchen sink and eat them as though they were grapes—such a fresh, delicious little snack. But we can’t snack on all of them, so I’ve been hunting recipes to use them up.

When we were in their home recently, our daughter-in-law served Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes as an intriguing side with burgers our son had grilled. Remembering my grape tomato crop that would be awaiting me when I returned home, I asked for a copy of the recipe, which had appeared on cookinglight.com at its Side Dish of the Month in April 2011.

SuperFast it was, with asparagus steamed in a skillet and then drained and removed. Into the skillet go the tomatoes and garlic cooked in olive oil, with balsamic vinegar and salt added. With the steamed asparagus arrayed on a platter, the tomato mixture tops it, followed by crumbled goat cheese and pepper. With a whopping 69 calories a serving no side could hold a candle to this in terms of flavor and color.

No dent in the grape tomato crop to be sure, but we really, enjoyed this unusual side dish and hope to enjoy it a few more times this season as long as those miniature red Christmas balls hang within our view—if we don’t snack them all up first!

Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups halved grape (or cherry) tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

3 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese (I substituted feta cheese)

black pepper

Cook asparagus in boiling water 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain. Over medium-high heat, heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add tomatoes and garlic; cook 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar; cook 3 minutes. Stir in salt. Arrange asparagus on a platter; top with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and pepper. Makes 4 servings.

A-A-A-A, what begins with A? Asparagus-Avocado Soup saves a hot-weather day

Ah, asparagus! The vegetable of the month in Prevention magazine—and me with a goodly handful of asparagus recipes to try. So look forward to even more green (besides what’s posted from earlier this week) in this and future blog postings.

Prevention touts asparagus as supplying insulin, a special fiber that helps the “good” bacteria in the digestive tract. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits and is considered to be one of the world’s healthiest foods. Prevention featured seven quick recipes to showcase this wonder veggie; I chose recipe #7 (the perfect number) to prepare—Asparagus-Avocado Soup, because it called for two of my faves and sounded as though it would be a wonderful combination.

Into the food processor went 8 ounces of cooked asparagus and a chopped avocado, along with cold water, fat-free sour cream, fresh lime juice, and chopped cilantro. The resulting soup had the texture of gazpacho, but the addition of asparagus made the dish a little more mellow than that cold soup.

 Served with a scoop of fat-free sour cream and a sprinkling of cilantro on top, it was a delicious hot-weather lunch treat with a few chips on the side for munching.

Asparagus-Avocado Soup

8 ounces asparagus

1 chopped avocado

1 1/4 cups cold water

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream plus extra for garnish

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro plus extra for garnish

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Cook asparagus. Add to blender with chopped avocado, cold water, sour cream, chopped cilantro, and lime juice. Puree until smooth. Season to taste. Ladle into 4 bowls and top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream and a few sprinkles of chopped cilantro. Makes 3 1/4 cups.