Conquering Veggies #6.3 - Office Asparagus

Once upon a time I thought asparagus was only delicious when it was a vehicle for bacon.

(Though, it is still very delicious in that way.)

Turns out that asparagus can be cooked in less than a minute in the microwave, and then with just a hit of salt it's tolerable! I might even like it. Just a little. Also this makes it ridiculously easy to take and eat at the office.

Fun fact - a bunch of asparagus should be stored
upright in water in your fridge, and my stemless
wineglass just happened to be the right size!
Also - the recipe on the tag was basically
"cook and smother in cheese." No help.

How to cook it: I took the asparagus to work in a tupperware-like container with a lid that snapped on. When I was ready to eat it, I just popped the top off, added about a tablespoon of water, set the top back on (w/o snapping it all the way shut) and microwaved it for about a minute on high. They came out so green and crisp!

The thing about asparagus, for me anyway, is that it looks so
dull and drab before you cook it. Not very enticing.

But just LOOK at how beautifully green these babies are now! YUM.

Buen provecho!

Next up (soon!): KALE CHIPS. HOLY YUM, BATMAN.

Conquering Veggables #6.2 - Acorn Squash

Sooooo... didjya read my post about butternut squash?? Because the acorn squash is very similar! As in... the exact same. It's all about getting the right cutlery to really show that squash who is the BOSS. (Hint: it should always be you.)

Cut. Slather. Bake. Eat. Repeat!

Tops & bottoms cut off, seeds out

Slathered in olive oil and s&p goodness

My mom also has an excellent recipe for stuffed acorn squash - I think there's couscous, crasins, and italian sausage involved. Now that I'm not so timid I'll have to get that from her for next fall. (It's too spring-y now for me to think about winter meals. Unless there's suddenly some raging sale on acorn squash. In which case it is ON!)

¡Buen Provecho!

Conquering Vegetables #6.1 - Butternut Squash

One veggie conquered, nine more to go!

Thank goodness my friends Kassie and Rick decided to try being vegan for a month. It forced me to think about what I was cooking and definitely encourages the incorporation of more veggies. Like, lots of veggies. I'm no an expert on being vegan - I catch myself wondering if an egg baked in an avocado has any animal products - but I'm getting a little more adventurous because of it.

So one night I attempted roasting a butternut squash for a dinner with friends. This one wasn't vegan - it used butter and parmesan cheese - but it was damn delicious. The most intimidating part was learning how to cut open a giant butternut squash. This is easily overcome by searching YouTube for "How to cut a butternut squash." I found dozens of tutorials, but I liked this one the best. (This is the original site - I haven't taken a good look, but it all looks delicious!)

Taking what I learned from the original attempt (which, again, WAS DELICIOUS) I switched some of the ingredients - olive oil instead of butter, and I didn't mess with the bread crumb mixture this time.

So - step one, cut the damn thing open. You can see in my picture I eventually got fed up and just broke the two halves apart at the thin end. (And yes, I too giggle at the shape of the butternut squash.)

Step one-and-a-half - turn the oven on to 350-400ish. You might want to look that up.

Step two - smother in olive oil & salt & pepper. Just smear it all on there and shake the S&P to taste.

Step three - Bake! Place face down on a cookie sheet (I line mine with tin foil). It takes about an hour, or until you can jab your fork in and it doesn't stick.

Step four - Let it cool. The skin will probably be all bubbly and a little burnt, but generally the squash isn't. Once it's cool enough that you can handle it w/o burning yourself, the skin will peel right off!

Step five - slice and dice, and eat!

I put cubes of butternut and acorn squash on a spinach salad with crasins, black beans, and drizzled it with this vegan salad dressing which is kind of expensive but reeeeeeally delicious.

Ta-daaaaa! A completely veggie meal that I enjoy!

Chiggity-check #6.1!

Vegetables... yeeeeahh, about that...

I tend to eat my words when I speak in absolutes, but I'm not too worried whenever I talk about vegetables. I can only list four off of the top of my head that I will willingly eat:

1. Mushrooms

2. Corn

3. Tomatoes

4. Sweet Potatoes

And I just learned that corn is starting to be considered a starch. And tomatoes are technically a fruit. And mushrooms taste like whatever they're cooked with. So, I like sweet potatoes.

I'm fixin' to change that - one veggie at a time.* (*until I get to ten. Then I stop.)

My goal over the next few years (and especially in the winter months when fruits are way too expensive) is to learn how to cook 10 veggies in a way that is both healthy and delicious. This generally means I can no longer rely on my old faithful way of cooking them - covered in cheese or butter.

Now would be a great time for you all to leave links to or instructions for your favorite veggie delights.

Also, as a clerical note, this is taking the place of #6: Scuba Dive. More on that in a later post.

Flower girl dress

First photo of the flower girl dress I made for my cousin Heidi's wedding. I am so proud of how good it turned out! More to come soon!