Well spring has finally sprung, and we have been busy planting lots more asparagus, as our reward for our hard efforts we enjoyed picking some of the asparagus we already had, from a patch we had planted years ago. I love perennial vegetables, anything that I only have to plant once gets lots of stars in my book. I think we planted between fifty to a hundred in our last patch, but we love asparagus so much and since we get our crowns from V.Kraus Nurseries for such a good price, we decided to plant another two hundred this year. Am I crazy? Maybe, but can you really have too much asparagus? Not when you’ve got a great recipe like this.
There are so many ways to enjoy asparagus, in soup, roasted, braised, in vegan omelets, added to pasta dishes, asparagus is a winner as a side to almost any dish. When I’m in a hurry I just steam it in a pan with a little water (you can add a little chicken seasoning to your water for a nice added touch), coconut oil, and salt to taste. Don’t over cook it, I like to cook it just until it turns a brighter green and is still a little crunchy. It makes a simple but nice side to any dish. On whfoods.com they recommend cooking it 3 minutes, they have some great information about asparagus there too, it’s worth checking out.
If you want to get a little fancier with your asparagus try this recipe for Rainbow Pasta. I like to chop my peppers and freeze them so they are available any time of year. With all the veggies this dish has great presentation, it just looks great! So go ahead and eat the rainbow.
Ingredients
- 1 (300 gram) package of Bow-tie pasta
- boiling water for pasta
- 2 c.Chopped asparagus
- 1 c. water
- 2 Tbsp. Chicken Seasoning Substitute
- 1 package of mushrooms, sliced
- 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1 - 2 onions, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ - 1 c. peas
- ½ c. raw cashews, blanched
- ½ c. water (should cover the cashews)
- another ½ c. water (equaling 1 c. total water)
- 1 Tbsp. non GMO cornstarch (or if you can't get this use arrowroot starch)
Instructions
- Place 1 (300 gram) pkg. of bowtie pasta in a large pot of boiling water, and cook over medium heat.
- While the pasta is cooking, place in a large skillet the 1 c. water, Chicken Seasoning Substitute, sliced mushrooms, chopped bell peppers, chopped onion, and minced garlic.
- Sauté, then add peas.
- Meanwhile in the blender place the blanched cashews and ½ c. water (it should cover the cashews). Blend on high 2 minutes.
- Add another ½ c. water (equaling 1 c. total water), 1 Tbsp. non GMO cornstarch (or if you can't get this use arrowroot starch). Continue blending until silky smooth.
- When the pasta is almost done add 2 c.chopped asparagus to the pot and let it steam on top.
- When the vegetables are sautéed, add cashew cream and stir until thickened.
- Drain pasta and asparagus, stir in sauce serve hot and enjoy!
sounds really good, I will have to try it.
This looks delicious and fairly simple to make. I love asparagus, and with a gluten free pasta, this will be a very nice meal for us. Thanks!