Asparagus soup.

Some vegetables I have a hard time to cook with diversity. Asparagus is one of them. I usually boil or roast them as a side dish or in a salad. But I also get easily bored of eating the same ingredient the same way all the time. I'm totally for diversity !

Asparagus remind me -and always will- of Christmas at my grandma's. She would cook a bouillon d'asperges as a starter. I used not to like it, because I used not to like asparagus. She always used to scoop out the asparagus to only serve me the broth. That I could deal with. Later, I would eat the whole thing and ask for more.

I was then on search for a comforting bouillon d'asperges online and came upon an asparagus soup instead. It looked so delicious I decided to give it a try.

Asparagus soup. Adapted from Ricardo Cuisine.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp of Earth Balance
4 cups of asparagus, cut into 1 po pieces (keep a few uncut)
5 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of rice (I used a mixture of wild and regular rice)
Salt and ground pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. Add Earth Balance over low-medium heat. Color the onion and add the asparagus -I threw in the ends first and then the tips of the asparagus. Cook for about a minute.
2. Add the vegetable broth and 3 tbsp of rice. Cover and cook until the asparagus are tender, for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the rest of the rice in a pot.
3. In a blender, blend the soup. Depending on your blender, sieve the soup to make sure you don't have any filamentous part of the asparagus.
4. In a bowl, serve one or two spoons of rice, cover with the soup and top with a couple of whole asparagus, salt and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy !

I simply loved it. It was tasty, sufficiently copious, and beautiful. I added the rice because I don't have a good blender -I use a Magic Bullet- and it didn't blend the rice so it was left in the sieve in the end. I was also worried it would not be plentiful enough. With the rice added, it was just perfect ! Completely different from my grandma's bouillon d'asperges but still a pleasure for my palate. I will definitely do that recipe again and again... and maybe cook it for my grandma !

Mushroom risotto with caramelized onions and asparagus.

Yesterday, I received my Organic Box* -like I do every Wednesdays. Going away to Boston on Friday evening for a few days, I felt like I had to act fast with some of the vegetables I received. I was especially worried for my mushrooms and asparagus. I was then innocently looking on the internet for new recipes to make good use of both, for my two following meals.

[My big reference regarding vegan food has so far always been Oh She Glows. Every single recipe I have made thanks to this website, I have been fully satisfied with.]

That's how I came upon a mushroom risotto recipe that looked perfect for the occasion. It even looked so delicious I could not resist the urge to make it... when I started cooking, it was about 10:30 p.m. Yes, that late. And yes, I had a full plate of this succulent meal right before going to bed around midnight. I am definitely guilty of that sin but I do not regret any bit of it. Just keep going and you will shortly understand my enthusiast and appetite.

[I decided to accompany this dish with some asparagus.]

Mushroom risotto with caramelized onions and asparagus.
Adapted from: Oh She Glows.

Ingredients:
5 asparagus
1 big onion, divided in two
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 container of white mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
1 cup uncooked rice (I used a mix of regular and wild rice)
3 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to garnish
1 tbsp Earth balance or butter, to stir in (optional)

Directions:
1. Cut in two your big onion and chop half of it. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook it for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and cook over medium-low for about 8 minutes. Reduce heat if necessary to avoid burning.
2. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add all the sliced mushrooms to the skillet and let them cook for 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, cook your asparagus in boiling water.
3. Add the seasonings to the skillet. Stir well. Cook for a couple more minutes. Now add in the rice, and the vegetable broth gradually as it cooks. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and stir every few minutes, reducing the heat when necessary to prevent it sticking to the bottom. Be careful because it will burn fast ! Do not hesitate to add more broth if you feel like it needs more to cook.
4. Meanwhile, make the caramelized onions. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Slice the other half of the onion into thin half moons. Add them to the oil and sprinkle liberally with salt. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn a nice brown, for about 30 minutes. Watch closely.
5. When the risotto has finished cooking, stir in a spoonful of Earth balance or butter if desired. Distribute into bowl and top each bowl with a spoonful of caramelized onions and freshly ground pepper. Add the asparagus on top and voila !

I simply fell in love with that recipe. It was such a comforting and satisfying dish. The caramelized onions are just the cherry on top of the icing. Seriously though. Who knew caramelized onions were so yummy ? I had no idea before then. Try it out and let me know what are your thoughts, I am curious.



*I will talk to you about my organic box in an upcoming article.