Asparagus with Carrots and Mushrooms meal recipe

This mixed vegetable dish is a great favorite at our office and home. I generally serve it with brown rice and some kind of lentils, black eyed peas or garbanzo beans. It has all the hallmarks of a balanced meal recommended by my nutritionist who said to me – Steve, your plate should be, half a plate of vegetables, ¼ plate starches and ¼ plate protein. You can substitute the beans with your choice of lean meat or fish. Instead of the rice you can do baked potato, sweet potato, bulgur wheat or whole grain of your choice.

See at the bottom of the page for the benefits of these vegetables.

Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes

Cooking time: 12 to 14 minutes

Ingredients:

Asparagus, carrots, mushrooms

Sesame Tahini (Crushed Sesame seeds) or Olive Oil

Sprinkle of curry powder or mixed Italian herbs

Dash of Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Ground black pepper

Salt as desired

Squeeze of lemon at the end

Preparation – You can do equal amounts of Asparagus, carrots and mushrooms. Use enough quantity depending on the servings needed. Just remember, half the plate should be vegetables. See pictures!

Asparagus: Trim the asparagus from the bottom. Cut them in half. Take the bottom halves if they are thick and slice them in the middle.

Carrots: Peel the carrots, cut them in 2 inches pieces and then half them.

Mushrooms: Cut them in half.

Combine asparagus and carrots in one mixing bowl and mushrooms in another one.

This recipe comes out very tasty when you use Sesame Tahini, which makes the spices really stick to the vegetables. But, you can also use your choice of olive, sesame or canola oil.

Take one to two tablespoon of tahini and mix it with a little water and pour it in the two bowls. You can also add a little olive oil to this. I like to do this as it spreads the spices nicely

Add moderate amounts of the spices listed above and salt to taste. Mix well.

I like to cook this in two batches since we use a toaster oven in the office and at home. We don’t like heating the whole house with the regular oven. I cook asparagus and carrots in the first batch (12 to 14 minutes) and mushrooms (8 minutes) in the next. I highly recommend a toaster oven, but if you are cooking a large batch, then the regular oven is the better choice.

Regular Ovens: Cooking time on broil – 12 to 14 minutes

In a regular oven, place the vegetables on a pan lined with aluminum (this way there is no clean up). You can spread the asparagus and carrots on one side and mushrooms on the other. I like to keep them separate because mushrooms give out water and if the water reaches the carrots & asparagus, then they get a little soggy. You can fold some aluminum foil in between the two and separate them.

Toaster Oven:

Asparagus and carrots: Cooking time on broil – 12 to 14 minutes

Mushrooms: Cooking time on broil – 8 minutes

Squeeze some lemon at the end and serve.

Note: If you preheat the oven, then the cooking time may be less.

Benefits:

Asparagus: They are a good source of Iron, Zinc and Magnesium. You get Protein, Vitamin A, C, E, K together with Thiamin Potassium, Copper, and Manganese. It is also a good source of Fiber.

Mushrooms are low in Saturated Fat. They have Vitamin B6, Folate, Zinc and Manganese. They also are a good source of fiber and have Potassium, Riboflavin, Niacin, Copper Selenium and Pantothenic..

Carrots are low in Cholesterol and saturated fats. They are a good source of fiber, Vitamin A, C, E, K, B6 and manganese.