It’s the beginning of that wonderful time of the year when asparagus is in season. You can purchase this green vegetable year round but spring is the best season for fresh asparagus. Crops are harvested from late February to June, with April being the prime month.
I thought I would share my favorite ASPARAGUS recipes!
Creamy Asparagus Soup
2 bunches asparagus
1/2 onion chopped (I love using a sweet onion)
3 stalks celery choppedf
2 carrots chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Blender Cream Sauce (see recipe below)
White pepper to taste (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. Steam asparagus until tender (do not over cook, but they need to be soft enough to blend).
2. Make the CREAM SAUCE (recipe below).
3. Sauté onion, celery, carrot and garlic in a large soup pot. You can use a small amount of water to saute, or oil if desired. Cook until tender, then add the cooked asparagus to the soup pot and stir to combine.
4. Add the cream sauce (see details below) to the sautéed mixture. Keeping the stovetop on medium-low, still cooking the mixture (but not bringing it to a boil).
5. Begin blending the soup mixture, 3 cups at a time in a high-powdered blender. Blending the veggies and cream sauce together, making a smooth green soup. You can blend the entire soup, or leave some veggies out to make the final product more chunky.
6. Once entire mixture has been blended, bring to a boil, stirring constantly as it thickens to keep it from lumping. Add white pepper to taste (optional). As soon as it thickens, turn to low or remove from heat. Serve and enjoy!
Basic Cream Sauce
1 cup raw cashew nuts
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
2 teaspoons onion powder
3 tablespoon Chicken-Like Seasoning (Better than Bouillon Vegetarian Paste works great!)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch, flour, or Clear Jel
1 ½ cups more water (to be added after blending)
Place all ingredients in blender and blend on high for about 2 minutes until smooth. (Make sure mixture is smooth- not gritty. A high powered blender is optimal, i.e. Vita-mix).
When the mixture is smooth pour into pan with sautéed veggies. Add the 1 ½ cups more water to the blender, swish it around, and add to the mixture in the pan.
My mom recently made this recipe for me and it was super yummy! I can’t wait to make it on my own and take a picture 🙂
Asparagus Salad
Ingredients
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 pounds asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut on diagonal into 2-inch pieces
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Directions
1. Boil vinegar in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Pour vinegar into large bowl. Whisk in oil, mustard, marjoram and garlic. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Cook asparagus in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water and drain again. Add asparagus and bell pepper to dressing; toss to blend well. Sprinkle with pecans and serve.
Source: WFM 1-10