Blackened Garlic Asparagus

Here's the recipe for the side dish pictured with my Spicy Eggplant Rolls recipe I posted a few days ago.

I usually like my asparagus steamed, with just a bit of Earth Balance vegan butter. But every once in a while, I prefer a side dish that's a little more... well, bad. Not that this side dish is horrible for you... but breaking out the olive oil twice for the same meal was an unusual experience. Let's justify it by just saying it's comfort food.

Anyway, this is a pretty simple recipe, and can easily be completed in about 10 minutes.


Garlic Blackened Asparagus

1 lb fresh asparagus spears, trimmed
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
1/4 tbsp crushed red pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic; saute for 1 minute.

Add asparagus spears; stir to coat with olive oil. Continue to stir fry for 7 minutes.

Add cumin, basil, and crushed red pepper; stir fry for an additional minute.


That's it... crunchy, garlick-y asparagus with an earthy, slightly spicy taste. It's a good accompaniment that stands up to Italian inspired main dishes, especially those using heavy sauces or lots of "cheese".

Oh, and my wife adds that it works great with a glass of chianti... but that it would probably suck with anything sweeter. I tend to stay away from red wines, so I'll defer to her expertise on the matter. After all, pretty much everything goes well with beer. :-)

Completely irrelevant tangent: I was buying some wine for the New Year's festivities.... you know how if you read the back of the label, it will usually say that the wine evokes notes of cherries, strawberries, or whatever? One particular cabernet - I won't divulge the label - stated that the wine "evokes notes of 'old leather'".

Wha~?

I'm thinking of all the times I've thought, "you know, I really wish I had an alcoholic drink that reminded me of an antique belt." Yeah, there aren't many.

Oh well, I guess I'll never be a good wine snob.

Anyway, that's it for today... may you have an enjoyable and safe New Year's Eve and ridiculous abundance and joy in the New Year!

The (No Life After Leather) Veggie Guy

Autumn Vegan Tacos with Roasted Corn Tomatillo Salsa

Ok, so here's my first shot at video blogging. As it were, my 5-year-old daughter was the only available camera-person, so it's a pretty... interesting video. So take it in context. My wife tells me she'll help out with future video blogging efforts, so long as I give her a bit of advance notice.



Autumn Veggie Tacos with Roasted Corn Tomatillo Salsa

Tacos:

4 corn tortillas, taco size
1 cup asparagus, trimmed
1 cup yellow squash, diced
1/2 large jalapeno, diced
1/3 xup red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped portabella mushrooms
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp groud cumin
1/4 tsp ground cayenne
1 tsp olive oil
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed


Salsa

1 can yellow corn, drained
3 large tomatillos, husked and diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/32 jalapeno pepper, diced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Drain corn; empty onto kitchen towel. Press dry with a second kitchen towel. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray; arrange corn in a single layer; bake for 15 minutes.

Combine olive oil, asparagus, yellow squash, red bell pepper, garlic, and jalapeno. Stir fry on medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften.

Meanwhile, mash together avocado, cumin, and cayenne. Set aside.

Combine chopped tomatillos, cilantro, 2 cloves chopped garlic, and lime juice in a medium bowl. Place in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to combine.

Warm tortillas in a microwave for 30 seconeds, or steam for 2 minutes to soften.

Fill tortillas with vegetable mixture; top with avocado mixture. Serve with tortilla chips and corn-tomatillo salsa.

Recipe: Vegan Savory Crepes

Tonight was a bit of a dinner stalemate. Carla and I took turns asking each other the ever-dangerous question, "So what do you want for dinner?"

Why is it dangerous? Because when neither of us can come up with anything, I end up heading to the store with absolutely no clue of what I'm going to get into. Then I get all creative, and end up spending half the evening making a huge mess in the kitchen.

We reached such a stalemate tonight, so off I went.

Actually, this time I had at least a vague plan. I remembered a recipe I saw this morning for crepes... so by the time I got to the grocery, I already had devious ideas swirling in my head.

Unlike most of my more creative...uh, creations, this one turned out phenomenal, if a bit messy. And the good thing is, even though I didn't have most of the ingredients on hand to make vegan crepes, now I have the stuff to make about a bazillion of them. So I guess it's a good thing they turned out well!

Anyway, here you go... Vegan Savory Crepes.

I unabashedly swiped the batter recipe from Recipezaar:

1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup Earth Balance vegan butter
1 tsp vegan sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, set in refrigerator and let chill for 2 hours. (Really. That's what the recipe said - 2 hours. I think mine chilled for maybe 20 minutes and the crepes turned out just fine, thankyouverymuch.)

Filling:

1 yellow squash, cut into thin rounds
1 zucchini squash, cut into thin rounds
1 lb asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces (I only used the top 3 inches)
4 oz white button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, sliced
1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 tbsp dried sage
1/2 tbsp dried basil
1/4 tbsp dried parsley
Olive oil cooking spray

Place yellow squash, zucchini squash, asparagus, and red bell pepper in vegatble steamer and steam for 30 minutes.

Remove red bell pepper and mushroom slices. Place in a blender with 1/4 cup soy milk, 1/2 of the basil and 1/2 of the sage. Blend until smooth.

Coat a 5-6" cooking pan with olive oil spray, turn on medium heat. Pour in enough crepe batter to cover bottom of pan. You may have to use a wooden spoon to smooth out the batter so it will cover the entire bottom of the pan. Cook batter 2-3 minutes or until the bottom begins to brown. Flip crepe can cook the other side an additional 2-3 minutes.

Transfer crepe to a plate. Cover half of the crepe with the mushroom mixture. Arrange zucchini squash, yellow squash, and asparagus spears over the mushroom mixture. Sprinkle sage and basil on top of the vegetables. Fold the uncovered half of the crepe over the vegetables, and sprinkle dried parsley over the crepe.

Repeat for the additional crepes. My recipe made 4 crepes (plus one that didn't quite make it).

I served these tasty crepes with a simple salad and french bread and Earth Balance vegan butter.

Now, I resolved to start taking pictures of my creations to post on my blog, but I forgot about it until about halfway through dinner. That's okay, though - Carla has informaed me that I will be making these quite often, so I'm sure I'll get another chance soon.