Steamed asparagus is a beautiful thing. Actually, asparagus in all forms is delicious. One of my favorite sneaky ways to bump up the excitement of steamed asparagus is to add some finely minced (or pressed) garlic and a little bit of salt before cooking it.

Get ready for next-level steamed asparagus. Did you know that asparagus is a great source of fiber? It also has lots of vitamins A, C and E… which is all the proof you need that asparagus is great, really.

By the way, if you want to save your lovely little spears from untimely wrinkling, wrap the ends in a damp paper towel and store them in the refrigerator.

Except for the asparagus, this is a one-pot meal, which means not only is there less cleaning to do, but you get all the delicious flavors and healthy (and not so healthy) bits together in a luscious sauce.

Serves: 4
Total time: 45 minutes

On the Counter

2 large free-range chicken breasts, split or 4 small chicken breasts
100 mL (1/2 cup) chicken stock or white wine
200 g (1/2 lb) white mushrooms
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil, if you’re dairy-free)
handful of chopped fresh parsley
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 large or 2 medium garlic cloves
1 shallot
16 spears of asparagus, tough ends snapped off
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

What to Do

Season the chicken liberally on both sides with salt and pepper.

Slice the mushrooms, chop the shallots and mince the garlic. Set 1/4 of the garlic aside. Slice the asparagus spears longways, either in half or quarters, depending how thick they are. You can then chop those pieces in half (or not!).

In a wide, flat bottomed pan, like a frying pan or skillet, heat the butter until it’s melted and bubbly.

On medium high, sear the chicken breasts (skin side down if it’s skin on) until it’s browned, about 4-5 minutes but have a peek underneath to confirm. If it’s sticking to the pan, give it more time. Flip the chicken and do the same again.

Remove the chicken and set it aside, covered.

Add a little more butter if needed, lower the heat and fry the shallots for 2-3 minutes, until they’re soft, stirring occasionally. Then the garlic goes in for 1 minute, until fragrant. Add in the mushrooms, and sautée. They’ll release a lot of liquid. Stir frequently until they’re soft. Season with salt and pepper.

Turn up the heat, stir in the wine or stock and deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping (with a wooden spoon) the bottom.

Return the chicken to the pan and simmer it for about 10 minutes, until the chicken is at 65C/ 144 F degrees, or isn’t pink in the middle.

With about 5 minutes left on the chicken, set a 2-tiered steamer pan boiling. Add in the asparagus, 1/4 of the garlic and a pinch of salt. Steam for 2-3 minutes until bright green. Don’t let them go further or they’ll be too soft.

Once the chicken is done, remove the pan from the heat and stir in lemon juice and parsley.

Serve on its own, or with a salad or brown rice. It’s also good as leftovers!

England (and maybe the rest of the UK too?) had been in the midst of some really lovely autumn weather… a little rain here and there, but mostly it’s been warm, sunny days. It does mean that the fact that it now starts getting dark around 5 seem strange, especially when it’s still nice enough to sit outside.

A couple of weekends ago, we went for a walk around some of the wooded areas of Surrey, and it was hard to believe that it was really autumn. We had lunch outside at a great local pub, The William Bray, where the food and the beer were both delicious.

Along the way, I picked some chestnuts for roasting, and wished that I knew enough about wild mushrooms to choose between the tasty ones and the deadly ones. I wonder if there’s a field guide to mushrooms somewhere out there that would make me confident enough to try.

There weren’t as many colorful leaves as you’d expect in mid-October.

…but there were still a few prime specimens

I wish I knew enough about mushrooms to pick them and not die.

We did roast the chestnuts I picked, which were sweet and soft right out of the oven. However, we just had to make do with mushrooms that trustworthy people had gone through the trouble of growing and sorting, when it came time for the main course. 

I think the combination of salmon and lentils combines two very different types of flavors – lentils, which can be heavy but very lean, and salmon, which is less dense, but rich and fatty. The leeks add sweetness and green to the plate, and, well, mushrooms taste good.

For any gluten-free readers out there, lentils are often harvested with wheat, so it’s worth being extra-careful and reading online reviews of brands when looking for lentils that will work for you. 

Serves: 4

On the Counter

4 filets of salmon
475 mL (2 cups) vegetable stock
1 leek, thoroughly washed
250 g (1/2 lb) chestnut or cremini mushrooms
175 g (7/8 cup or 6.2 oz) French green lentils (lentilles vertes)
1 garlic clove, chopped
small handful of chopped fresh parsley

Dijon Sauce
4 tsp dijon mustard
8 tsp water
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried thyme

What to Do

Preheat oven to 200 C/390 F.

Rinse the lentils. Bring the vegetable stock to a boil. If you are using unsalted stock, add 1/2 tsp of salt. Once the water is boiling, add in the lentils and cook according to the package. Green lentils should boil for 10 minutes and simmer for 35 minutes. Drain the lentils.

Meanwhile…

Thinly slice the leeks and mushrooms, but set them aside separately.

Combine Dijon mustard, thyme, water, 2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp of salt, whisk. Set half the sauce aside.

On a baking sheet lined with foil, place the salmon skin-side down. Cover the salmon with 1/2 of the Dijon sauce. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

On medium-low, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a sautee pan until shimmering. Add in the leeks and stir frequently, until they begin to soften – about 5 minutes. Add in mushrooms, and continue to stir frequently, for another 3 minutes or so, or until the mushrooms begin to soften and shine. Add in garlic and 1 tsp of salt and cook for another minute until garlic is fragrant and soft. Mix in 1/2 of of the remaining Dijon sauce (1/4 of the total), and set aside.

When the lentils are finished, spoon them into a wide-bottomed bowl. Top with shallots and mushrooms, and then salmon. Sprinkle parsley on top.

First thing’s first. Scallops. They’re tasty, they’re good for you (more than 80% protein, and packed with magnesium and potassium), and they are easy to overcook.

But they’re worth the effort to get right – and by running a few scallop tests, I intend to save you some trouble. (When you can get a good deal from a fishmonger on scallops – it’s worth testing … and eating your results.)

The quickest way to cook scallops, and the best for a risotto, is to sear them in some olive oil and butter. Before cooking them, make sure they’re dry, and then season each side with a sprinkle of salt and black pepper. Kosher salt or ground rock/sea salt are your best options, but using what you have has always seemed reasonable to me.

After that, the two most important things are heat and time. Make sure that your pan is smoking hot (literally!) and that you have a timer ready.

King scallops, or the big guys seen below, take 1:30 on each side to cook. Nothing crazy is going to happen if you go slightly over, but if you’re anything like me, it just takes one minor distraction to go from soft, buttery scallops to tough, disappointing scallops.

So that’s:

a. dry, seasoned scallops
b. smoking hot skillet with some butter and olive oil
c. a timer (1:30 on each side)

Personally, I like to eat the coral (the orange bit that’s attached) but if you don’t, or you’re not comfortable eating roe, then it’s really easy to remove before cooking. Just pull them off!

Make the scallops as your final step, even though I’ve gone and made everything confusing by talking about them first. But they’re much better hot and fresh out of the pan. Plus, the risotto is less likely to suffer from waiting 3 minutes than the scallops are waiting 30 minutes.

Serves: 2 [and easy to halve for 1]

On the Counter

for the risotto

1 medium onion, finely diced
200 g chestnut or portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
25 g butter
1.25 L (5 cups) vegetable stock
120 ml (1/2 cup) white wine
200 g (1 cup) carnaroli or arborio rice
130 g (1 cup) peas, defrosted
50 g unsalted butter, cubed
50 g Parmesan cheese, grated
handful of fresh parsley, chopped

for the scallops

25 g butter, melted in a skillet
1 tbsp olive oil
6 large scallops, cleaned, seasoned and dried. (coral removed if desired)

What To Do

Bring the stock to the boil and set aside once it’s boiled.

Melt the 25 g of butter over medium heat until sizzling. Soften the onion in a skillet, for about 5 minutes, then mix in the mushrooms and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes. Add in garlic, stir and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the rice. Turn the heat up to medium high, and stir to coat the grains with butter.

Once the grains begin to turn translucent, add the wine. Stir until the wine is mostly gone. Add 1 ladle-full of stock, stir until nearly absorbed and add more stock. (You don’t have to stir constantly, just ensure the rice does not go dry.)

After 10 minutes, stir in the peas, test the rice for doneness, and add stock in smaller portions until the rice is as firm or soft as you like it to be.

As soon as the rice is ready and the stock level in the pan is low, take the risotto off the heat. Stir in the remaining butter and the parmesan cheese. Mix until well combined and creamy.

Set aside, covered (or serve immediately if not making scallops.)

Meanwhile, when the rice is very nearly done, heat the olive oil and 25 g of butter in a skillet until the butter has been sizzling for a few minutes.

Once the butter is hot enough, prepare a timer for 1 minute 30 seconds. Quickly put the scallops in and leave them unit the timer goes off.

Flip the scallops and cook for another 1 minute, 30 seconds.

Serve the scallops on top of the risotto and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

The best-laid plans…

Lately I’ve come to discover that I’m inspired to blog at the wrong times. I have about 3 or 4 posts in draft form, some with photos, and some just with recipes.

I have some that seem like they would be ready for prime time – until I try to write something about them. Then, I have times when I can’t be bothered to take the camera out for something I’m just whipping up quickly. Of course, lately that means as soon as I take my first bite, I realize I should have been ready to blog about it.

Like in this case. For now, all I have are photos snapped quickly on my iPhone, too hungry to bother getting a photo this time.

But this is the kind of meal I should have had my camera ready for – inspired by a recipe that was inspired by another recipe, and similar to many meals before it.

It also tastes a bit decadent, which, maybe it is, but it has coconut milk … and coconut milk is good for you. And tasty. And dairy-free. And creamy. And usually pretty cheap.

While I can’t say it’s Thai food, I can definitely say that it has Thai-inspired vegetables and flavors, plus some other fun ingredients that don’t sound like they’ll work, but they do. The creamy coconutty chicken sauce, the soft and meaty shiitake mushrooms and the sweet and colorful red peppers all hang out together in harmony.

PS: My Kitchen Counter has an instagram account now! Check me out @mykitchencounter.

Note: If you’re hard-up for star anise, you can skip it, but even for a liquorice-hater like me, it added a nice dimension that I wouldn’t miss out on.

Inspired by the Kitchn.

Serve (over rice, if using rice) with sauce and vegetables on top. Garnish with chopped scallions (spring onions) and cilantro (coriander leaves), and with lime wedges on the side.

It has been hot, hot, hot here in London this weekend. Being from the northeast US, I’m thrilled with these hot, sunny days and hope we get a few months of it. It’s still less humid than back home, so I really can’t complain. Plus, there are loads of summer vegetables to eat, and finding ways to prepare them is a fun challenge.

Yesterday the gentleman and I spent the day in Whitstable, a really nice seaside town. One of my favorite things about it (besides the peaceful beaches and the delicious local oysters and lobster we had for dinner) was how focused the town seemed on “staying local”. The high street was full of locally owned shops and restaurants selling local products. Sometimes it can seem like a losing battle when most high streets are full of chain restaurants and Wetherspoon pubs. Whitstable was a very pleasant surprise.

One of our Whitstable oysters came with its own oyster-handle.

Speaking of local, pretty much all the vegetables from this recipe came from our Riverford box – the only thing that didn’t was the garlic and the canned tomatoes. I’ve gotten a bit more adventurous thanks to these boxes. You might not consider an eggplant (aubergine) particularly remarkable, but I’m not a big fan, so being forced to cook them sometimes has challenged my creativity and even changed my mind about a few vegetables.

Recipe note: Some people are vehemently against adding sugar to their tomato sauces. And while I fully admit it’s a short-cut, it’s one I’m happy to take – especially when I want tomato sauce NOW and not in 3 hours. Simplicity works well for the lasagne, as the veggies do a lot of heavy lifting and you don’t want the sauce to overpower all those fresh veg.

On the Counter

Sauce:
2 cans whole plum tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 medium red onion, chopped
1/2 cup red wine (chianti)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper (chili) flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp demerara sugar (1.5 tsp if using white granulated)
salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Lasagne:
6-8 no-boil lasagne sheets
1/2 cup mild white cheddar, shredded/grated
2 medium zucchinis (courgettes), sliced and quartered
1 eggplant (aubergine), sliced
10 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
salt to taste
fresh basil, shredded

What to Do

Sauce: In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once shimmering, add chopped onions, cook until nearly translucent. (If your onions are browning too quickly, add just a tiny bit of water to regulate the temperature of the pan and stir with a wooden spoon.)

When the onions are just about there, add chopped garlic. Cook for another 2 minutes, until garlic is soft but not brown. Meanwhile, chop or squish the tomatoes in their cans. 

Deglaze the pan with red wine, scraping any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add tomatoes, breaking up any bigger pieces. 

Lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Add in sugar, oregano, basil and chili flakes. Taste and add salt (or a bit more sugar) as needed. 

Simmer for an additional 10 minutes. 

The Rest: 

While the sauce is simmering, sprinkle salt on all sliced vegetables. If you’re using lasagne sheets that need to be pre-boiled, start them now. Cook them for about 2 minutes less than the package says, as they’ll soak up some liquid during baking. 

Lay down a single layer of 3-4 sheets at the bottom of a wide baking dish. Spoon on a thin coating of sauce.

Add a layer of vegetables, no more than 2 deep. Add another layer of lasagne sheets. Continue until the dish is full, ending with a layer of vegetables.

Sprinkle shredded cheese on top. 

Bake at 180C for 40-45 minutes until bubbly with golden cheese. 

I hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy the summer while it lasts!

I know, another pasta-based recipe, but it’s summer! For me, warm weather and fresh vegetables means as little time and effort as possible and as much tasty fresh vegetable goodness as I can get. Plus, today was the perfect day for a light and easy pasta lunch.

The gentleman and I spent the first half of today, a perfectly amazing example of summer, swimming, bobbing and sunning at an outdoor pool.

It might have looked like this…

After a few hours in the pool, lunch had to be the right combination of filling but not too heavy. Swimming works up quite an appetite, but I was interested in spending as little time as possible near the stove.

A quick dig around in the fridge and I had a pile of mushrooms and some green onions. Paired with fresh basil, fresh pasta and some parmesan cheese, we were in the running for lunch. I’d like to try this with some walnut pieces tossed in, but unfortunately there weren’t any at home so … next time.

If you’re using fresh pasta, sauteeing the mushrooms and cooking the pasta will take the same amount of time. If not, start the pasta, and with about 5 minutes left, start heating up the oil. The whole thing, including chopping, should take about 10-15 minutes.

After lunch it was time for some homemade iced coffee and the Wimbledon final. I may not be from the UK, but it’s not hard to get swept up in the Andy Murray fever, and to watch Britain win its first men’s Wimbledon final in 77(!) years.  Pretty exciting, especially when paired with caffeine.

It’s quite possible that I wrote this sitting on the balcony; the smell of basil, the sounds of the neighborhood and the touch of a gentle breeze made this one of the most pleasurable posts to write. Days like this just don’t happen often enough.

Serves: 2

On the Counter

7 oz (200 g) fresh tagliatelle
4 medium portobello mushrooms, halved and sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 green onions (scallions), sliced, separated into 2 piles
1/2 tsp red pepper (chili) flakes
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
freshly grated parmesan, (optional) to taste

What to Do

Heat a skillet or cast iron pan with 2 tbsp olive oil to medium-high heat. Once it’s shimmering (but not yet smoking!) add 1/2 of the green onions and mushrooms. Salt lightly and stir.

Meanwhile, add the tagliatelle to a pot of salted boiling water and cook for 4 minutes (or less depending on pasta) until al dente.

After 2 minutes of cooking the mushrooms, add in garlic and chili flakes, turn down the heat to medium. Stir until the mushrooms have darkened and softened, but not turned mushy.

Drain the pasta and mix with 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and the mushrooms. Top with basil, toss and onto the plate with it. Top with parmesan if desired.

(And also use a jam jar for drinking because all the glasses are in the dishwasher.)

I don’t think this needs any meat, especially since the mushrooms do a lot of that hearty umami work in this meal, and I just don’t like heavy lunches on hot days. And… without the parmesan, it’s vegan. If you’re skipping the parmesan, I might add a tiny bit of sea salt at the end, just for  bit of texture and some of the seasoning that the parmesan offers.

I’m writing about pasta… on Thanksgiving. What am I doing?! Well, being in London means I’ll get to celebrate Thanksgiving a few times, just not today. Instead of spending tomorrow morning in pajamas thinking about Black Friday shopping, I’ll be at work with everyone else here, waiting for the weekend to begin. So really, this dish is for everyone who can’t celebrate Thanksgiving today, for whatever reason, wherever you are.

This dish came to be one night when I had a pile of mushrooms to eat, and not a whole lot of spinach. (I actually made this to be 2 portions, but doubled the recipe for the blog.)

I love quick tomato sauces. They’re an awesome way to make a weeknight dinner that’s still homemade. I think most home cooks have a tomato sauce that they rely on, and the more often you make it, the more you learn how much you can play with it. This one could work with shrimp, or sausage or… well, lots of things.

Yummy, healthy, easy and versatile! Vegan, cheesy, meaty… this can be whatever you want it to be. Except maybe the main dish at Thanksgiving. Unless you’re really into pasta.

Serves: 4

On the Counter

200g button mushrooms, quartered
150g fresh baby spinach
2 cans (16 oz or 400g each) chopped tomatoes
1 lb (500g) linguine
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried basil
3 tsp raw or cane sugar
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

What to Do

Cook linguine in salted water until al dente. 

Saute onions in olive oil on low heat, cook til soft and translucent, then add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add mushroom quarters and some salt.

Turn up heat to medium. Cook until mushrooms are golden and soft.

Stir in tomatoes, sugar and basil. Add more salt if needed.

Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until tomato sauce has thickened.

Take sauce off the heat and stir in spinach. Let it wilt for 2 minutes.

Serve atop linguine, with grated fresh Parmesan if desired.

As I’m writing about this, I kind of want more. Not kind of, definitely.

A few months ago, I went to a social media week event here in London about food. It was a great event, I met some interesting people, had thought-provoking conversations and ate free burritos.

The best presenters, in my mind, were the funny, interesting and passionate people behind Great British Chefs, an all-encompassing food site, to say the least.

I started following them via my newly-created blog twitter and a while later, along came this mushroom risotto recipe.

It is good. Very good. It’s thick with mushroom flavor, hearty and autumnal. I’m definitely into the autumn foods right now.

If you like mushrooms, this is the risotto for you. You can tone down some of the intense mushroom flavor by using milder mushrooms, or just picking one variety. You could also mix up the proportions of mushrooms. I, however, am on a fresh shiitake kick, so they were very welcome to the party. And on sale.

And try not to be intimidated by the stirring required for risotto. Put a good TV show on your laptop or tablet and get stirring. (I watched Castle this time.)

Adapted from Great British Chefs

Serves: 4

On The Counter:

5 tbsp (75g) butter
10 oz (300g) of assorted fresh mushrooms, cut in similar-sized pieces (shiitake, oyster, chestnut, for example)
1 small shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
10 oz (300g) of Arborio risotto rice
1/2 cup (120ml) of white wine
3 cups (700ml) of vegetable stock, plus more if needed
2 tbsp (40g) of grated Parmesan
olive oil
salt
black pepper

What to Do:

Melt half the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms, season lightly with salt. Sautee until light brown and soft. Add shallots and garlic and cook until soft, but not brown. (About 30 seconds to 1 minute.)

Stir in the rice and turn up the heat to medium-high. Keep stirring and cook until transparent, about a minute. Pour in the wine and continue stirring.

Add the stock, one ladle-full at a time. Stir constantly, nearly all the wine is absorbed and the rice is creamy and cooked through. This takes about 15 minutes. If the rice is undercooked, add water and continue.

Season with a little more salt and fresh pepper. Add the remaining butter and the Parmesan cheese, and stir until well combined. Serve.