Baked Asparagus

I have never been a fan of asparagus, until I read about baking it!

Ingredients:
1 lb. asparagus
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
block of your favorite cheese- smoked cheddar or parmesan work great!

Instructions:
(1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
(2) Cut the woody lower ends off asparagus and use a vegetable peeler to gently remove the skin from the stalks. The stalks are surprisingly delicate, so it takes a light touch to peel asparagus! I recommend peeling over a cutting board so you can easily salvage any pieces that snap while you're peeling (unlike I usually do and peel over the sink, thus loosing many a pieces to the depths of the garbage disposal... I digress).
(3) Cover a baking sheet lightly with olive oil. Using a silpat works well for this recipe too.
(4) Spread asparagus on baking sheet and cover with more olive oil, salt, and pepper.
(5) Grate cheese liberally over asparagus.
(6) Cook for 8-10 minutes and serve!

Potato Leek Soup

In honor of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day, here's a recipe that our family thoroughly enjoys!
Based off a recipe from The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors.

Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients:
4 TB butter
2 medium leeks, sliced (or onions)
2 lbs potatoes, sliced
3 cups milk
5 1/2 c. vegetable stock (or chicken)
1/4 c. chopped fresh chives
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 c. heavy cream (or light cream)
salt & pepper to taste

Roux (2 TB butter, 2 TB cornstarch)

Instructions:
(1) Heat a 6-8 qt. stockpot and saute butter and leek.
(2) Add potatoes, milk, stock, and herbs. Cover and cook gently for an hour.
(3) Prepare the roux by melting the butter in a small saucepan and whisking in the flour. Let it bubble for 2 mins on med-low heat, stirring constantly.
(4) Add roux to soup to thicken, whisking to avoid lumps.
(5) Cook for 5-10 mins, and then puree the soup with stick blender.
(6) Add cream and gently reheat, but do not boil.
(7) Season with salt and pepper. Serve!

Make it a Crock Pot dish: 
This can be done in the crock pot, which is actually the only way I've ever done it! In lieu of cooking for an hour on the stove, I cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or on HIGH for 4-6 hours. You can do the first step as written, or skip it completely and just add the ingredients into the crock pot sans sautéing! Step 3 must be done as written. For step 5, I just leave it in the crock pot to blend it, and make sure the crock pot is on LOW when I move onto step 6. After adding the cream, I let it cook for another ~15 mins, and then turn the crock pot to WARM.


** DISCLOSURE NOTE: The above recipe contains an Amazon Associates link. **