Asparagus for Non-Asparagus Eaters

Love it, or hate it?  Asparagus seems to be one of those things that drives people to extremes of opinion. Many will scrunch up their noses at the mere mention of it, possibly recalling a past experience with canned asparagus, or some other form of the vegetable cooked beyond recognition.  Personally, I love the stuff. (Admittedly, I have been known to enjoy a canned asparagus and grilled cheese sandwich from time to time, but let's pretend I didn't tell you that.) Here's a way of serving asparagus that involves absolutely no risk of ending up with a squishy dull green mess.  It's raw asparagus!  Shaved into lovely curly slivers with a surprisingly subtle, fresh green flavour and just the right amount of crunch. Tossed with a simple dressing and some sharp pecorino cheese, it's refreshing and more-ish - sure to be a standout with any main meal.  Try it, you might just like it.

Shaved Asparagus Salad

1 bunch asparagus

3 tablespoons grated pecorino

1/2 a lemon, juiced

1 tablespoon warm water

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Wash the asparagus and snap off the tough ends. Shave into fine slices using a vegetable peeler, starting at the stem end and moving toward the tip. Alternatively you could use a mandolin to do this, but I wasn't confident in there only being a thin layer of asparagus between my fingers and the cutting blade, so I opted to use the peeler.  Combine the cheese, lemon juice and water.  Whisk in the oil to emulsify.  Toss through the asparagus and season with salt and pepper.  Feel free to play around with the proportions of ingredients in the dressing, according to your own taste - admittedly I added a little extra cheese to my serving... I can't resist pecorino!

Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Broccoli, Cauliflower, Chickpeas and Garlic

Here's one of our favourite go-to midweek meals.  Now, I know what you're thinking - "Frozen vegetables!? Doesn't exactly sound gourmet".  But they're good to have around in case you run our of fresh produce, and trust me, if you tasted it you'd never know the difference.  Cooking the vegetables while they're still frozen means they crisp up perfectly as they absorb the garlic/chili/oil mixture.  
This is a speedy, (relatively) healthy and great tasting meal, and you probably have all of the ingredients in your fridge and pantry right now.  The original recipe was made using brocolli only, but we prefer to use a broccoli and cauliflower mix to add further texture, flavour and colour.  It says it serves four - well, that really depends on how hungry you are! My husband and I have polished off the whole lot on one occasion, but there's usually some left over for lunch the next day.  If you're not one for chili, you could easily omit it and lift the flavours with a good squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Broccoli, Cauliflower, Chickpeas and Garlic 

adapted from Gourmet

serves 4

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried hot red chili flakes

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 packages (approx 12oz/300g each) frozen chopped mixed broccoli and cauliflower

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 pound whole-wheat spaghetti

finely grated parmesan or pecorino romano

Heat the oil in a large pan over moderate heat. Add the garlic and chili flakes and cook, stirring, for a few minutes or until golden. Add the broccoli, cauliflower and salt, making sure to break up any frozen clumps. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are thawed and tender-crisp, around 6 minutes.  Stir in the chickpeas and cook until heated through. 

Cook pasta according to packet directions, until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and then drain the pasta.  Add the pasta and reserved water to the pan with the broccoli and chickpea mixture. Tossing, cook over moderate heat until well combined.  Serve topped with grated parmesan, and drizzle with a little additional oil or a squeeze of lemon juice, if desired.

Baked Frittata

We all have those evenings. 
You know, when you really can't be bothered to cook anything that involves more than 10 minutes of your time? In fact, you're not even really that hungry, but you would like something easy and tasty that doesn't involve a pizza delivery or baked beans on toast. Well, here is one dish that will solve all your problems - 5 minutes of prep time, and then you can pop it in the oven and forget about it for the next 45. The great aroma as it bakes will help develop your appetite, too. The only other thing you may want to do is toast some crusty bread for the perfect comfort-food accompaniment. It also makes for a great brunch.

The other great thing about this dish is that you can practically use whatever you have in the fridge. 
Bacon could easily be substituted for the ham, or you could leave the meat out altogether. You could use asparagus or grated zucchini or even leeks in place of the spinach. Fresh herbs or semi-dried tomatoes would add a great flavour, too. Then there's the cheese... the possibilities are endless!

Baked Frittata

Serves 4

7 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

8 oz frozen spinach (about 225g), defrosted

1 garlic clove, minced
4 shallots/scallions, finely sliced (I've also used half an onion, finely diced)

1/2 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

7 oz (200g) thick sliced ham

a large handful of grated cheese

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.  Grease your baking pan - I use a 9" square pan, but I'm sure a rectangular pan of similar size would work just as well.

Squeeze excess liquid out of the spinach and spread in the bottom of the pan. Top with the shallots.  Dice the ham into small cubes and scatter on top of the spinach along with your tomato halves. You could also add some chopped fresh herbs at this point, if you so desired - dill, parsley, etc.

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk with the milk, salt and pepper.  Pour over the vegetables.

Sprinkle your cheese on top. You could really use whatever cheese you like here, cheddar, mozzarella, gruyere, etc. The best results I've had was putting in some crumbled blue cheese first and then a light sprinkling of mozzarella over the top.  The mozzarella forms a nice top in the oven while blue cheese sinks into the mixture a little, so you get that lovely zingy blue cheese taste when you bite into the frittata.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top is golden and the middle is completely set.