TGIF! Salad, Roasted Asparagus and Cottage Pie

Tweet

   Ahem! It's been a long while.  I have been apartment huntung in the new place we are moving to and it has  not been easy.  To add to the chaos, I was out, for a week, with influenza.  Hmmm! Yeah, a lots been going on.

  Now I am sitting here watching the snow white garden in our friends Indiana apartment, and this weekend will move to our new place in Illinois, very close to CHICAGO.  So, we are with friends and to say I had a good time except for the cold will be an understatement.  I feel a lot younger because most of the activities resemble the kind I had during my college times.  Cooking together with friends, eating out and general banter and pulling each others leg. We have been busy, enjoying ourselves, which could be the reason house hunting was such a trial task!

  Getting back to what you might be more interested in listening to, here is what we had on a Friday.  A foodies haven.  We have had a lot of Indian food the last couple of weeks, but I just didn't take any photos, a shame indeed.  However, will share some other fun stuff we cooked and ate and I hope you will enjoy.



We served up some green salad to begin, dressed up with a simple vinaigrette of extra virgin olive oil and white vinegar, equal portions.  Seasoned it with a clove of garlic finely chopped, two shallots chopped and a generous sprinkle of oregano.  Add all the ingredients and salt , shake it up well and pour over the salad before serving.

 To make grilled or baked asparagus start by cleaning and snipping off the hard ends of the asparagus.  Dry off and put them in a zip lock bag and pour extra virgin olive oil, black pepper and salt and shake well.  Marinate this for about 1/2 hour and then either grill, bake at 400 F for about 10 minutes to 15 minutes or until soft.



Cottage Pie cooked in red wine and seasoned with thyme and rosemary. Yum!  Follow the method here but change the seasoning to a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme, finely chopped garlic about 1 Tbsp, red wine vinegar 1/2 cup and paparika and black pepper to taste.  Do not forget to add beef broth to keep the pie moist.




Moist beef with a rich and creamy potato top.  Don't forget to enjoy.

Contributor: Sunitha