Quick 2 Dish Spring Meal: Asparagus, Mushrooms & More

When the asparagus begins to come in it seems that it appears at every meal for a while. I had been thinking about cabbage rolls, but the weather turned cooler for a spring day and a hot meal felt right. So the asparagus went together with the leftover cannelloni beans and tang of tomatillos, not a common combination but delicious. Then the cold temperatures prompted me to impulse-buy Brussels sprouts, and so the sauté evolved to round out the plate.

ASPARAGUS CANNELLINI TOMATILLO CABBAGE ROLLS with Bean Threads!
4-5 large unfurled cabbage leaves
2-3 cups asparagus cut in 2-3 inch lengths
1/2-2/3 cup canned Cannelini beans ( or other beans)
4-5 sliced tomatillos
Mung Bean Threads
3 cloves garlic crushed & diced
Tblsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Tsp oregano

1. Start by steaming the cabbage leaves and set them aside. Don't worry if they aren't intact, you can use 2-3 for each serving to form an informal wrap. This is not finger food after all is said and done. You can soak the bean threads in the cabbage leaf water OR you can use the Brussels sprouts steaming water (I used the same water for everything). After the bean threads soften, put them in a strainer and run cool water on them to keep them separated. They will heat again when you throw them all together in the next step.
2. In a good sized sauté pan, put asparagus, garlic, beans, and sliced tomatillos with a little water and the Bragg's Liquid Aminos, cover and steam (about 6 minutes). Add the bean threads and stir all together.
3. Lay out overlapping leaves, fill with veggies, and gently roll up, pouring any pan sauce over them. This could also have some heat if you add some red pepper flakes.

BRUSSELS SPROUT MUSHROOM SAUTÉ
4 large white mushrooms
2-3 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
1 cup rough chopped onion (I used Vidalia)
Water for sauté (1/4 cup)
5-8 pitted black olives
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
Tsp thyme
Tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp salt
Pepper if desired

1. Lightly steam the cut Brussels sprouts in the cabbage water.
2. Saute the sliced mushrooms, garlic and onions in a bit of water with the thyme and rosemary and salt.
3. Combine the Sprouts into the saute, adding the black olives chopped into big pieces.
4. Stir together and add salt and pepper as desired.

SERVE -- with some rough chopped fresh tomatoes drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar ... What a beautiful quick meal!

Quick Vegan Dinner: Roots, Grains, Asparagus

This was a meal prepared in advance for a cool supper on a hot day. I steamed the root veggies ahead of time and cooked the quinoa til nearly done, leaving it in the pan with the lid on for the afternoon! The key to this combination was that each dish had a distinct texture, flavor and sauce. I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos in cooking the quinoa with garlic, splashed just a bit of Ume Plum Vinegar on the asparagus, and made a quick peanut sauce for the roots. It was fast, fun, filling, easy and tasty.

ROOT VEGGIES for 2-3 people

a handful of baby carrots, you could use chopped regular ones
two parsnips cut in diagonal slabs
3 golden beets cooked in quarters
a good sized "japanese" sweet potato - or white yam in chunks

Peanut Sauce:
1/4 cup natural peanut butter (ground peanuts with salt or without salt -- not sweetened)
2 Tablespoons Tamari
3 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons black vinegar or red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
(if you like sweet, you can add tsp mirin)

QUINOA - Red & White!
1 cup EACH red & white quinoa
4 cloves garlic chopped finely
1 medium onion chopped fine
3.5 cups water
3 teaspoons-1 tablespoon Bragg's Liquid Amino (this is salty)

ASPARAGUS with GRAPE TOMATOES

a good handful of fresh asparagus, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
about 12-15 grape tomatoes cut in half lengthwise
1-2 tsp Ume Plum Vinegar (splash on before taking out of pan)

1) Scrub, peel, cut and organize your vegetables. Steam the roots in a pot with a steamer insert and you can use the cooking water to make the quinoa (a nice subtle flavor sharing). The key is to get the chunks about the same relative to the soft or hardness of the root -- so that a hard root that would need longer cooking needs to be a smaller chunk relative to a soft root that cooks faster ... parsnips and carrots cook fast relative to beets and sweet potatoes. You can add other roots!
2) Cook the quinoa with the garlic and onion and the Bragg's until it's nearly done, then turn off and leave covered til you need it. I used it at room temperature.
3) Last thing is to cook the asparagus in a little water, covered. Cut up the tomatoes while the asparagus cooks. Stir it a couple times to be sure it cooks evenly. Add the vinegar (or squirt lemon on it if you don't like vinegar) while still in the pan. Add the tomatoes while the asparagus is still warm, stirring into the cooking juices with vinegar.

Serve and eat!