An Affair to Remember

It's true. I am having an affair. I'll admit it.

A love affair with asparagus. Every spring, I feel a momentary twinge of guilt for my wandering eyes as I walk through the produce department at the grocery store. After all, the roasted sweet potatoes, spinach salads, rosemary potatoes and other autumn/winter veggies have been so faithful. Always comforting and filling.

I can't help it, the minute I see those lovely green stalks all bundled together, chilled over ice I just get all tingly inside and my heart goes pitter-patter.

A fairly recent obsession, I have been reflecting on what might be the root of this magnetic draw. The crispness of a perfectly blanched stalk? The sweetness of the majestically roasted bundle? Or the perfection of marrying those green gems with scrambled eggs and cheese?

Actually, who cares?! This may just be the greatest spring vegetable on the planet (in my humble opinion).

Here's what I had for dinner tonight:

Baked sole fillets with a garlic lemon peppercorn rub, cucumber salad (another fave) and roasted asparagus with parmesan cheese.

My favorite way to cook asparagus: roast it. Super easy. Super yummy. Try it.

Roasted Asparagus:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rinse and wash the asparagus. Trim off the flat ends of the stalks (they are tough). Place the stalks in a row on a jelly roll pan and coat with cooking spray (or olive oil), salt and pepper. Roast for 10-12 minutes, until asparagus is bright green and still crisp.

Getting Ready for Spring

Is it really the day before St. Patrick's Day? Where the heck have the first three months of 2010 gone? Don't get me wrong...I'm certainly not complaining since we're that much closer to sunshine and tulips (my favorite flower)! And I live in the South - geesh. This winter weather has been for the birds!

In my quest for an early spring, I decided to make a batch of my favorite chicken salad to get me in the mood. I adore chicken salad. In fact, I actually have quite a few recipes, but I keep coming back to this one as the old standby. You can't go wrong.

It draws rave reviews from crowds, is great as a snack or a meal, pleases even the heartiest of meat-eaters (it passed my Dad test!) and it's just plain yummy. The best part is that it takes less than 15 minutes to pull together. First, you start by chopping and dicing a bunch of red grapes, red apples and celery.

Next, heat up some frozen, diced chicken that's been precooked. Add it to the bowl.

Toss everything together with poppyseed salad dressing and a spoonful of mayo and you are good to go. You could add nuts or dried berries if you like.

Pure bliss, I'm telling you. You'll never go back (to whatever pre-made chicken salad you just bought at the grocery store).

The Best Chicken Salad Ever

Ingredients:

1 red apple, diced

1 bunch of red grapes, halved

2-3 celery stalks, sliced thinly

1/2 bag of frozen, diced chicken (precooked, such as Tyson)

1/3 Cup (or so) of poppyseed salad dressing

1 Tablespoon of mayo

Directions:

Heat chicken according to directions. Dump everything in a bowl and toss until fruit, celery and chicken are coated with dressing. (Start with a small amount of dressing and add more as needed; the dressing will settle to the bottom of the bowl.)

My Happy Place

Life just doesn't get any better than this.

I'm sitting on my couch (in my finally clean house), watching DVR episodes of "Barefoot Contessa" with my cookbooks and food magazines strewn about my living room, plotting the cooking escapades I'll have this weekend. Ahhh...my happy place.

It's true. I am positively giddy to make my list and inspect all the delicious, delectable goodies at Whole Foods and Costco and Publix. (Are "they" sure there isn't a condition I have?)

To make matters more exciting, I just watched a clip of The Pioneer Woman on "Good Morning America" and read all about her experience on her blog. I want to be Ree. Seriously.

(BTW - Why do the men in the Hamptons wear corduroys with embroidered frogs or bees or whatever? Sorry, distracting moment on this BC episode.)

While the past month has been crazy busy, I did manage to whip up a couple yummy meals. One of my favorite standbys is couscous salad. It's easy, you can put basically anything in it, and it's light and healthy. I tried a Mediterranean version this time.

I had some frozen shrimp on hand and a bunch of my favorite veggies: cherry tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, peppers and scallions. Add some feta cheese, olives, fresh herbs and citrus zest/juice and viola! Here is the recipe I used, but it really can be modified with anything you have on hand. (Oh, I love love love to put rotisserie chicken in too.)

Mediterranean Couscous Salad with Shrimp

Salad:

12-15 frozen, precooked shrimp, thawed

1 package of couscous (I use whole wheat or plain)

1/2 cucumber, chopped

1/2 red onion, diced

2 scallions, sliced

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved

1/3 cup feta cheese

1 can cannelleni beans, drained and rinsed

Dressing:

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped (or more if you like)

1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped (or more if you like)

2 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar

1/4 - 1/3 Cup of olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Juice of 1 lemon

1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Cook couscous according to package directions. Place in large bowl and set aside.
2. Chop the veggies and add them to the couscous with the olives, feta, beans and shrimp.
3. Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl, whisking until combined.
4. Pour dressing over the couscous mixture and toss until coated.
5. Enjoy!