Morels and Fresh Asparagus in a Tangy Vegan Cream Sauce

We spent about four hours or more in the garden yesterday.  On the way home I was preparing dinner in my head.  It had been a long day and we did quite a bit of shovel work.  We were both tired and I knew when I hit the couch I'd be asleep very shortly.   I picked up some asparagus at the farmer's market and had set some morel mushrooms to soak in salt water before we left.  My first idea was to grill them with some other vegetables.  I didn't have the energy to start the coals and wait so I made a quick cream sauce.  It was pretty nice, I used some lemon juice and zest to give it a little tang, a heaping tablespoon of nutritional yeast, and a handful of some Daiya mozzarella cheese.  It took about 30 minutes from start to finish.

It was the first time I've ever used morels myself.  I've had them prepared by others.  They're pretty expensive at $20 a pound and I m not a mushroom expert.  I wouldn't feel safe picking them myself.  Christy had some at the produce store, so I picked up a quarter pound. They really have a great flavor and from what I've heard, pretty nutritious.

Health Benefits of Morels

"The nutritional content of morel mushrooms provides several health benefits, including cardiovascular and weight loss support. A 1-cup serving of morel mushrooms provides 1.8 g of fiber. Fiber absorbs bile acids in the intestines and prevents them from re-entering the bloodstream and forming cholesterol, a substance that clogs arteries and causes cardiac arrest and stroke. It also slows carbohydrate digestion, along with the 2 g of protein in morels. Together these macro-nutrients maintain a steady blood glucose level that provides consistent energy throughout the day, preventing binging and excessive snacking."
 

 

Morels & Fresh Asparagus with Cream Sauce

About 1/4 lb fresh morels

     1 tablespoon salt for soaking morels

1 lb fresh asparagus

2 tablespoons vegan margarine, I used Earth Balance

2 Cups non dairy milk, not low fat (soy or hemp work best for a creamy texture)

3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons grated Daiya mozzarella cheese

Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

8 ounces of your favorite pasta

Rinse morels and slice in half, soak in filtered water with about 1 tablespoon salt for an hour or more, drain and rinse with filtered water.

Cook, drain, and rinse pasta.

Steam the asparagus for about 3 minutes until bright green.  The asparagus should be 'al dente. Remove to colander and cool with water.  Cut asparagus into 1 " pieces.  Set aside.

In large skillet over medium high heat, add margarine and morels.  Cook the morels until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the milk and cook until bubbly and begins to thicken. Add lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper, green onions, and parsley.  Simmer about 3 minutes or less. Combine with asparagus and pasta.  Serve immediately.  

This should serve about 4

Keep moving forward

I didn't have such a successful morning yesterday.  It started OK. I got up early and finished pressing and snipping the last 20 tote bags made. I gathered my supplies and headed over to the farmer's market to sit in my friend's stall and sell them.  We set up the rack with a couple bags and showed it to he farmer's market board.  Unfortunately the market has rules about selling the fundraising items.  I understand that, I guess.  The money made at the market really should go to the farmers and not a national organization.  I packed it up and I'll try the Bridge Market today.  Christy has a produce booth along with plants and offered to share some of her space.  Hopefully I can stay a little while this time.

After leaving the farmer's market, I headed over to Rachel's baby shower.  At least I'm on-time, I thought.  The party starts at noon and I said I might be late due to the market.  I got to the house on the street with the balloons in front.  There was a party at this house, but it was a child's birthday party. Ah heck, not only is the party at the house across the street, it is Sunday, not Saturday.  I was a little early.  Oh well, went home and packed up and had a great afternoon in the garden.

About the Tote Bags

Michele read an article last year about how to make a tote bag out of a tee shirt.  She shared it with Donna and I and thought maybe we could use this idea for a Relay for Life fundraiser.  Looked pretty fun to me.  There were a lot of shirts no one ever used for past Relay events. The director of the local event even found us some more shirts to use from other counties. Donna and Michele snipped out the collars and sleeves of the shirts and I sewed them into shopping bags.  The white bags needed some personality so I took them over to my friend's art studio in Rainier, Oregon and she turned them into what I think are the coolest shopping bags in Longview.  These shirts are now useful tote bags good for groceries, gym clothes, or beach bags.  We're selling them for $10 each and the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

Garden Update

It's been awhile since I shared a garden update.  We've been out every chance we can get turning the soil and planting our garden.  We're almost planted.  We've got one more section in the back to turn, but we're running out of room now.  Friday afternoon I planted:  eight ball zucchini, delicata squash, broccoli, jalepeños, Thai chilies, some more flowers, & basil.  Yesterday we planted: three or four kinds or tomatoes, persimmons, yellow paddy pan squash, crookneck squash, zucchini, Anaheim peppers, mustard greens, and fennel. We only have one more section to plant. Hopefully we'll get potatoes and collard greens soon, and some more flowers :)

The artichokes have come in healthier than I've ever seen them.  It's the third year for these plants and I've counted more than ten artichokes already on two plants.  There are lots of herbs coming in and the chard made it through the winter.  I love it that we can take something home when we've just begun the harder work of gardening.  The ground was really tough and muddy this year.  It took awhile to get out there in our wet spring, but we managed to get a lot in. 

Vegan Lemon Almond Cake

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.  I've got a tofu quiché in the oven with fresh picked organic spinach, asparagus, yellow and orange bell peppers, and green onions.  Looking forward to seeing how that comes out.  While it's baking I thought I'd share a quick lemon cake I made last weekend.

I began with a recipe from the Flexitarian Cookbook and veganized it.  That didn't take much to veganize.  I used Ener-G egg replacer and millet milk. Millet milk is something I recently learned to make, it's very creamy. I really like using the Ener-G egg replacer for baking.  It whips up like an egg does and gives a fluffy texture to the batter.

Lemon Almond Cake

1½ cups unbleached whole wheat white flour
1 cup sucanat, raw cane sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼  teaspoon salt
Egg replacer for two eggs, Ener-G or flaxseed meal and water
½ cup non dairy milk, I used home made millet milk
½ cup sunflower, or other light oil (Don't use olive oil for this cake)
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
4.5 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup sucanat, or other sugar

Preheat oven to 300º Lightly grease a 4 x 8" loaf pan or 9" cake pan

In medium bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate small bowl whisk together the egg replacer, milk, oil, almond extract, and lemon zest.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until no lumps remain.  Don't mix it too much.

Spread batter into prepared pan and bake about 30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, combine the lemon juice and sugar in a small pot or skillet over medium heat.  Cook until the sugar dissolves.

When the cake comes out of the oven, use a skewer to poke holes through the cake to the bottom, about 20 holes. Let the cake cool about 20 minutes and pour the lemon glaze over the cake.  I sprinkled a little lavender on my cake.

Serve warm

Millet Milk

1 C cooked millet
1/3-2/3 Cup raw cashews or almonds, soaked two hours
2 quart water

Blend the millet, cashews, and 1 quart water in a high speed blender such as a Blendtec or Vita-Mix until creamy.  If your blender is large enough, add a pinch of salt, and the rest of the water.  If not, just pour into a two quart pitcher, add a pinch of salt and the other quart of water. Whisk together and chill.