Asparagus and onion weed soup

Soon it will be spring, time for asparagus and onion weeds with some nice juicy bulbs, this is a recipe from last year with I will repeat as I am cleaning the veggie garden, always finding some little potatoes and cavolo nero. Everything goes into a soup, with the addition of asparagus, and vegetable stock. I blended everything (but left our a few whole steamed asparagus tips to add later) and used some onion weed and pansy flowers for decoration.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Halloween Vegan Sushi - just a few ideas

There are plenty of Sushi rice recipes on this blog, so I won't repeat myself, and if you never made sushi just click here and you can find all the different ways to prepare rice and create vegan sushi, norimaki and onigiri (rice balls). 

So just follow the basic or your favourite sushi recipes and just apply these cool Halloween variations! I used lots of seaweed, nori, seaweed salad and a Japanese dried seaweed that looks like the wrapping of a scary mummy. You can find everything in Japanese shops :-). The skulls and pumpkins are made with Takuan (pickled daikon), the zombi eyes with asparagus, the 'slime' with avocado and seaweed salad, and the details with cut nori.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Asparagus, spinach and onion weed soup

This soup is vegan and gluten free, and makes use of those onion weeds that grow everywhere in Auckland in spring. Forage the onion weeds from a safe and clean place and wash well. The bulbs are fat and delicious just like spring onions (plus they are free!) and you can also eat the stems, leaves and flowers. 

Chop the bulbs, stalks and leaves of a bunch of onion weed and one bunch of asparagus, sauté with a drop of olive oil until fragrant, then add 1 l of vegetable stock and one big potato, peeled and finely sliced. Simmer until the potato is mushy and then add one cup of baby spinach leaves. Blend with an immersion blender and bring back to the boil for one minute. Adjust with salt and pepper and serve, decorated with onion weed flowers.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Sautéed Asian eggplants and asparagus with Italian herbs (and baby potatoes)

One of my favourite kitchen smells is garlic and herbs sizzling in olive oil! Here I used fresh rosemary, sage and oregano, a couple of garlic cloves, and a few long Asian eggplants, cut into halves or quarters (depending on their size). When the eggplants were done I added the asparagus (which take less time) and sauté the lot for one more minute, then added more fresh herbs, a good pinch of salt, a heavy lid, and turned the heat off. If you leave the veggies like this for 5-10 minutes they will just 'finish' cooking in their own steam.

I had herbs leftover, so I half-boiled some new potatoes, peeled them (sorry Kiwis, but I love to peel my potatoes, unless they are organic) and placed them on a baking try lined with baking paper. I added rosemary and sage, salt and olive oil. I baked the lot and the kitchen smelled lovely.

 Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Haute Vegan Cuisine: Asparagus and onion weed soup with edible flowers

This is so easy to make, but looks impressive and tastes delicious.

Ingredients

1 big agria potato

1 bunch asparagus

3-4 onion weeds with flowers

1 l vegetable stock

nasturtium flowers and baby leaves

sage flowers

violet flowers

Peel the potato and cube. Clean the asparagus, remove the woody stalk ends and cut into small pieces keeping the tips aside. Clean the onion weed, set the flowers aside and cut the stalks. Place potato, asparagus spares and onion weed stalks in a pot with the vegetable stock and simmer until all the veggies are soft. Add the asparagus tips and blanch. Remove the asparagus tips and blend the rest of the soup. Serve and top with the whole asparagus tips, decorate with nasturtium flowers and baby leaves, sage flowers, violet flowers and onion weed flowers. Eat everything!

Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Asparagus, mange tout and peas with champagne

Sauté one finely chopped shallot with a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Add the stalks, chopped, of a dozen asparagus, stir for a couple of minutes and then add a glass of leftover bubbly and an organic veggie cube (I only use Rapunzel). Let the wine evaporate then add two cups of frozen peas. Add more bubbly if liquid is needed. When the peas are cooked add the asparagus tips and some mange tout or sugar snap peas. Stir quickly to lightly blanch the asparagus tip and sugar snap peas (you still want them very green and crispy). A feast of different textures and greens, and a perfect side veg.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Aparagus Inari Parcels

I really really like the fried tofu parcels used to make oinari-san, I wouldn't know how to make them, a Japanese friend told me ages ago, but it seemed quite involved... maybe one day, but for the time being they can be bought in Japanese/Asian stores :-). This pack contained 16 tofu parcels. 

The parcels are usually filled with sushi rice, but they can also be uses as "containers" (see the image on the packet) and I really liked this brand: not a single parcel broke when I was opening it! I decided to used them with rice and asparagus. The asparagus were simply steamed, and then I cut them and placed then in a bowl with the liquid of the tofu parcels (they are sealed in an sweetish sauce which I thought was a waste to discard).

Wash the sushi rice (or Japanese rice) several times in cold water, until the water runs clear, and then cook it by absorption. The doses are about 1 and 3/4 (three quarters) cups of sushi rice for 2 cups of water, but that depends on the type of pot. You need a pot with a good lid, or you will loose too much steam. I kind of regulate myself by ear now, since I know my pots and pans. Bring the pot to boiling point, lower the heat and simmer until all the water has been absorbed. Once the rice is ready pour it into a bowl and stir it with a wooden spatula, cooling it with a fan if you can. I then add some ready made sushi vinegar, about 2 tablespoons, but this is my personal taste. If I don't have sushi vinegar I use 2 tbsp of rice vinegar, a little sugar and a little salt (to taste, and I don't like to use too much sugar or salt!).

I filled the parcels with rice and asparagus and wrapped them up with a chive. 

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Spring asparagus steamed over a vegetable soup and served with flowers

Lots of people know by now that I eat flowers, but still, some think of it as a bit of a freak thing to do. But if you have a few edible flowers in your garden (absolutely organic, no sprays allowed) they just make your dishes look so pretty, and they are not merely a decoration, they can have flavour and fragrance too! I used onion weed flowers, which have a mild garlic/oniony taste, and nasturtiums, which are probably the only flowers that the general public in New Zealand seem to consder edible (some claim to use them in salads, but in all these years here I have seen more trendy talk than action, and still far too much coleslaw). My first borage flowers and a few little violets added perhaps little taste, but they are eye catching with their blue hues, and welcome on my plate anytime.

On a large plate I prepared a bed of baby spinach leaves and then I steamed some asparagus. To save time and gas I steamed the asparagus over the vegetable soup that I was cooking for dinner (so that I could make lunch and dinner at the same time). I meant to photograph the finished soup too, since all the veggies come from my garden, but I forgot. Anyway, it had my last cabbage, carrots, celery (mostly leaves), cavolo nero, broad beans (they are here, finally!) and onion weed (of course). It was a lovely soup, and I just had to add pasta and seasoning, all the rest was from my garden. Anyway, back to the asparagus salad: after steaming the asparagus I rinsed them under cold water and placed them over the spinach leaves. And then I added the flowers. For dressing I just added salt, extra virgin olive oil and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena. I also think that a simple Japanese miso and sesame seed dressing like this one could go well. This was a light but satisfying lunch for two.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Asparagus Risotto

I Love Asparagus

Here is an easy and classy risotto

Get a pot ready with 1.5 of vegetable stock (home made or organic)

Clean a bunch of asparagus and cut into 3-4 cm pieces (remove only the woodiest part, the rest of the spears are fine). Keep aside.

Finely chop a small onion (possibly white), put in a capable casserole or saucepan with 2 tbsp of olive oil and cook until the onion is translucent, but not brown yet.

Add the 500 g of arborio rice.

Stir, add one glass of white wine.

Stir, add one ladle of vegetable stock.

Stir, add the asparagus spear pieces, but not the tips!

Keep stirring and adding vegetable stock until the risotto is nearly cooked. It will take about 20 minutes. Add the asparagus tips only at the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Serve immediately.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©