Recipe: Easy asparagus-mushroom bake with eggs and cheese
Light and creamy, asparagus-mushroom bake can be a meatless main course or side dish. Debbie Arrington
This easy, eggy casserole showcases one of my favorite vegetables of early spring – asparagus.
With a light and creamy egg base, this dish is perfect for brunch or as the main course in a meatless meal. It also works as a side dish for upcoming family celebrations such as Easter or Mother’s Day.
Precooking the asparagus with the mushrooms and onion eliminates most of the vegetable’s excess moisture. Otherwise, the casserole can come out soggy.
Asparagus-mushroom bake
Makes 4 to 6 servings
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup onion, chopped
2 cups white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
¼ cup water
4 eggs
1 cup milk
¼ teaspoon hot sauce
1-1/2 cups jack cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet, heat oil. Saute onion over medium heat until translucent. Add mushrooms and continue sauteing until limp. Add asparagus and stir fry until pieces start to change color to bright green. Add water and cover pan. Turn heat down and let asparagus-mushroom mixture simmer until asparagus is tender, about 7 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the asparagus.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs until light. Add milk and mix to combine. Stir in hot sauce, then add the cheese.
Prepare an 8- by 8-inch baking dish; grease or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Drain asparagus-mushroom mixture well, squeezing out as much moisture as possible. Transfer asparagus-mushroom mixture to prepared pan. Pour egg mixture over asparagus-mushroom mixture. Using a wooden spoon, gently swirl combined mixtures so asparagus is well distributed and all pieces are submerged in the egg mixture.
Place casserole on center rack in preheated oven. Bake casserole in 350-degree oven until top is golden and puffy, about 45 minutes.
Let cool slightly and serve.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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