by Love and Lemon

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 45 minutes mins

Serves 4

Take your mashed potatoes to a whole new level with this rich, savory mushroom gravy! It’s fantastic on these garlic mashed potatoes as well as my mashed cauliflower and parsnip puree. Vegan.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 0.5 shallot, finely chopped (⅓ cup)
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 0.25 tablespoon tamari
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 0.75 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• 0.25 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 0.13 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups vegetable broth
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. 
• Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the tamari, garlic, thyme, and rosemary. Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir for 1 minute. 
• Add the broth and simmer until thickened, whisking often, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

1. Depending on how much you like (or should I say love?) garlic flavor, you can swap the green stalks for half or all of the basil in your go-to pesto recipe. Blitz in a food processor with Parmesan, pine nuts, olive oil, and salt and pepper.
2. Fold chopped and sautéed garlic scapes into frittatas, omelets, or our best-ever scrambled eggs.
3. Swap thinly sliced garlic scapes for the scallions in your next batch of crispy fried rice.
4. Cut garlic scapes into coins and add them to a hot pan to make all sorts of stir-fries.
5. Mix finely diced garlic scapes into a vinaigrette or green goddess dressing to instantly upgrade your next salad.
6. Blister whole garlic scapes on the grill for a lightly charred snack or side dish to serve at your next barbecue.
7. Stir finely chopped garlic scapes, olive oil, and salt into Greek yogurt to make a dip for crackers or crudités. Or, thin the mixture with a spoonful of water and drizzle it over grilled meat or roasted veggies.
8. Pickled garlic scapes are a revelation. Cut the green shoots into 6-inch pieces and process them the same as pickled ramps.
9. Sauté sliced scapes to use as a homemade pizza topping. Save any leftover oil from the pan in the fridge for your next salad dressing.
10. Use the scapes whole in a hearty, warm-weather-friendly braise.
11. Add a few diced garlic scapes with the chopped onion the next time you make risotto. Feeling fancy? Save one finely sliced green stalk to garnish each bowl.
12. Mix chopped scapes with room-temperature butter and roll it into a log to make a versatile compound butter. Use it on grilled or pan-fried fish, roasted veggies, and garlicky grilled cheese. Or stash it in the freezer and pull it out a few months down the road to make a truly special Thanksgiving turkey.

From this website

This super simple pesto is slightly sweet and utterly uplifting, especially when you’re craving spring. Toss it with pasta, spread it on grilled bread or crostini (it’s great with goat cheese), spoon it over salmon or chicken, or dip crackers into it for a snack. If you’re tossing the pesto with pasta (it makes more than enough for 1 pound of pasta), blanch the peas in the same water you’ll use to cook the noodles (transfer the peas to a bowl of ice water, then cook your pasta in the same pot)—this saves you a bit of clean-up and even adds some nutrients to your pasta. You wouldn’t know this pesto was vegan, but you can certainly add some grated Parmigiano when blending, or top your bowls of pasta with crumbled goat cheese, if you so desire.

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups fresh or frozen sweet peas (1 10-ounce bag frozen peas)
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
• ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, and season with salt.  Fill a bowl with ice water.  Cook the peas in the boiling water until bright green and tender, about 2-3 minutes.  Transfer to the bowl of ice water to cool (this will preserve their color).  Drain.
  
• In a food processor with the motor running (or you can use a Vitamix), drop the garlic clove through the feed tube and finely chop. Add the peas, mint, pine nuts and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Process to a paste. Scrape down the sides. With the machine running, drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if needed.
  

Notes

Do Ahead: The pesto can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Tips:

• You can make the pesto in a food processor or Vitamix.
• Boiling the peas then shocking them in ice water preserves their bright green color. If you want to omit this step, you can simply defrost the peas at room temperature!
• This pesto is naturally vegan, but you can add grated parmesan cheese, if you prefer.
• You can swap out the fresh mint for basil.
• Serve the pesto on Maple Roasted Salmon, chicken, grain bowls, pizza or crostini. It also makes for a lovely dip with crackers!

By Deborah Katz

Serves 4 | Prep Time 15 minutes | Cook Time 0 minutes

Variety isn’t just the spice of life; it will also keep you from falling into a food rut. People often tell me that they love salad but get bored with the same old version they always make. This disenchantment can lead folks away from the greens their bodies really need. If that sounds like you, let this salad serve as a springboard for endless seasonal variations. Eating with the seasons isn’t just a catch phrase. Each season brings new foods just hitting their peak; in this case, strawberries and arugula, some of the welcome early harbingers of the spring. In addition to having an incredibly sweet taste, strawberries have anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. Plus, when combined with mint and a lemony balsamic vinaigrette, they make for a salad that feels like Pop Rocks going off in your mouth.

Instructions

Put the arugula, fennel, strawberries, and mint in a large bowl and toss gently to combine. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the top and toss again. Scatter the almonds over the top.

Place a small skillet over low flame and add almonds. Toast, stirring often, until slightly golden and nutty smelling, about 2 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.

COOK’S NOTE: A mandoline (no you can’t strum it) is a handy kitchen tool that allows you to slice vegetables to a uniformed thickness—and perfect for the fennel in this recipe. There are many inexpensive hand- held models available at kitchen stores and online.

STORAGE: If you must store the salad, don’t add the dressing. After combining the greens, fennel, strawberries, and mint, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 day at most

The combination of freshly steamed green beans with a tarragon is easy and deliciuos

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Fill a 3 quart sauce pan approximately ½ full with salted water and bring to a boil.
2. Drop trimmed green beans into the water and bring back up to a boil. Cook gently for 5-6 minutes or until tender.
3. Drain the green beans and return to the pan, adding butter, chopped tarragon, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir to melt the butter and combine. Serve immediately.

•  prep time: 15 MINUTES
•  cook time: 45 MINUTES
•  total time: 60 MINUTES
•  yield: 6 SERVINGS 1X

DESCRIPTION

These roasted artichokes are easy to make and full of the best lemony, herby, garlicky flavors.  See dipping sauce ideas below.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 fresh artichokes
• 2 large fresh lemons, juiced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or melted butter)
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly-chopped
• fresh rosemary (plus additional fresh thyme, oregano, or sage, if you’d like)
• coarse sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400°F.
2. Use a knife to slice off the bottom 1/2-inch (or more, if you’d like) of the artichoke stems, and the top 1 inch of the artichoke globes (the leaves on top).  Remove and discard any small leaves toward the bottoms of the stems.  Rinse the artichokes with water.
3. Slice the artichokes in half vertically.  Use a spoon to scoop out the fuzzy “choke” in the middle of the artichoke.  Then use kitchen shears to trim about 1/4/-inch off the pointy tips of each of the artichoke leaves (so that they don’t poke you when you eat them).  Rub a lemon wedge all over the entire surface of each artichoke half, to prevent browning.
4. Place the artichoke halves in a baking dish or on a baking sheet cut-side-up.  Brush the cut sides of the artichokes evenly with the olive oil.  Then fill the cavities evenly with the garlic, followed by a few small sprigs of the fresh herbs.  Season with salt and pepper.
5. Flip the artichokes over, using the herbs to help hold in the garlic, so that they are cut-side-down.  Brush the tops of the artichokes with oil, and season with salt and pepper.
6. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.  Then remove and cover the pan with aluminum foil, and bake for an additional 25-35 minutes, or until the artichokes are tender and the leaves pull off easily.
7. Place the tray on a cooling rack.  Carefully remove, discard the herbs (or stir them into your dipping sauce for extra flavor), and drizzle the artichokes with extra lemon juice.
8. Serve the roasted artichokes warm with your desired dipping sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 kg/2 lbs shelled fava beans, fresh or frozen (about 2.6 kg/5 lb fresh with pods)
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1 head garlic or chopped green garlic
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 2 c chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
• 1-2 lemons

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Boil the fava beans until the skin easily pierces with your fingernail. This will vary depending on the beans, 1-15 minutes, fresh tends to need longer. Transfer to an ice bath or a medium-sized bowl.
2. In a large skillet set over medium-low heat, add olive oil, garlic, salt and fava beans. Cook, stirring frequently, until fully cooked through and flavorful, about 10-15 minutes. If at any point the garlic or fava beans are sticking to the pan, add 1/4 c of water to deglaze.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro/coriander leaves. Squeeze lemon over the top, combine, and adjust seasoning.
4. Transfer to a serving platter to marinade the flavors and cool completely. You can also reserve in an airtight container and serve the next day. Take it out of the fridge 30-60 minutes ahead of time to allow to come to room temperature.
5. Serve with pita bread.

Makes 6 servings

Prep – 10 minutes

Cook Time – 20 minutes

PISTACHIO CREAM

1 cup water or stock

1 cup shelled pistachios

1 TBS chopped mint

2 tsp freshly squeeze lemon

SOUP

2 bunches of asparagus (about 2 pounds) tough ends snapped off, remain stalks peeled

3 TBS extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 leeks, white part only, chopped

1 Yellow potato, peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

6 cups Magic Mineral Broth or store bought stock

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

To make the pistachio cream, put the water pistachios, mint, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a blender or food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Taste; you may want to add a bit more salt.

Cut off the asparagus tips and put the stalks and tips on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle the asparagus with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Toss evenly to coat. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Remove the asparagus tips from the baking sheet and reserve for garnishing the soup.

Heat the remaining 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in an 8-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, and a pinch of salt. Sauce for 4 minutes, then add the potato and a generous pinch of salt. Stir occasionally, allowing the potatoes to soften and the onion to turn golden. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Pour in 1 cup of the broth and deglaze the pot, stirring to loosen any its stuck to the pot. Add the remaining 5 cups of broth and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

In batches, puree the soup in a blender, adding the broth first, then the vegetables and asparagus. Blend until velvety smooth, about 2 minutes. If the soup is too thick, add more broth 1/2 cup at a time. Return the soup to the pot and gently reheat. Taste: you may want to add a pinch of salt or a squeeze of lemon.

Stir 1 cup of the pistachio cream into the soup. Ladle the soup in to bowls and garnish with the reserved asparagus tips. 

COOKS NOTES:

For an ultra smooth velvety texture, go one step further: strain through a fine-mesh sieve, using the back of a wooden spoon to push the liquid through. The ends of there asparagus can be stringy, so peeling just the ends will ensure that you have the smoothes soup possible.