Oven-Roasted, Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus
May 27, 2008 | Filed Under Asparagus, Foods I Never Liked Before Until I Started to Cook, Lucullian Delights, Vegetables | 17 Comments
"This is good!" my mom exclaimed after she took a bite of my oven-roasted, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, courtesy of Ilva’s recipe. She sounded and looked very surprised as she continued to eat it. She’s right: It WAS good.
I mentioned in a previous post that I never used to like eggplants — till I started cooking. Well, you can add asparagus to my list of ‘Foods I Never Liked Before Until I Started Cooking’. Back in the day, I’d purse my lips, scrunch my face and turn away from the offending green spear. I tried to keep asparagus far away from my plate. Today, I love asparagus — especially roasted. In this recipe, the prosciutto added an extra special delicious taste. Yup! It tasted good, indeed. Thanks, Ilva!
Paz
Oven-Roasted Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus
Fresh green asparagus, not too thin stalks
Prosciutto crudo or Parma ham
Extra-virgin olive oil
- Clean the asparagus, snap off the lower part, you can peel it if it is to thick skinned.
- Wrap approximately half a slice of Parma ham around each asparagus stalk, you have to judge yourself as the size of the slices may vary.
- Grease an oven-proof form with a litle olive oil and put one layer of asparagus in it.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/347°F) until the ham is crisp and the asparagus has softened. It takes about 10-15 minutes.
Tepid Chickpea and Chicken Salad with Zucchini and Sundried Tomatoes or Insalata Tiepida di Ceci e Pollo con Zucchine e Pomodori Secchi
April 21, 2008 | Filed Under Foods I Never Liked Before Until I Started to Cook, Lucullian Delights, Salad | 11 Comments
Ilva’s salads are always sure winners for me. And here’s another one that recently caught my eye — Tepid Chickpea and Chicken Salad with Zucchini and Sundried Tomatoes. I loved this one. I loved that the ingredients are simple and delicious. Everything went well together — the chicken, chickpeas, sundried tomatoes, parsley and garlic. Mixed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, I had a lip-smacking time eating this salad. Oh! and it’s preparation time is fast, so that I didn’t have to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. Grazie, Ilva!
TEPID CHICKPEA AND CHICKEN SALAD WITH ZUCCHINI AND SUNDRIED TOMATOES or INSALATA TIEPIDA DI CECI E POLLO CON ZUCCHINE E POMODORI SECCHI
3-4 servings
1 chicken breast
400 ml/1,7 cup cooked chickpeas
2 medium zucchini
2 whole sundried tomatoes on the large side
1-2 tblsp chopped parsley
1 clove of garlic
Black pepper
Salt
Mild vinegar or lemon/lime juice
Extra-virgin olive oil
- Mix vinegar, salt, parsley and olive oil and pour it over the chickpeas. Leave them to marinate while you proceed with the recipe.
- Put the sundried tomatoes in some tepid water to soak.
- Chop the garlic, cut or slice the zucchini into pieces and start braising them in a pan with some olive oil.
- Cut the chicken breast into small pieces and then salt and pepper them well, especially the last. Chop the sundried tomatoes finely.
- When the zucchini begins to be golden, add chicken and the chopped tomatoes and sautè for 4-5 minutes, it depends on how big the chicken pieces are.
- Pour away the excess oil and mix with the chickpeas.
- Let it cool down a little before serving.
Weekend Herb Blogging #106: Very Cheap but Very Good Vegetable Soup
October 27, 2007 | Filed Under Cauliflower, Lucullian Delights, Soups/Chowders/Gumbos, Vegetables, Weekend Herb Blogging | 9 Comments
I love the name that Ilva of Lucullian Delights gives this healthy, simple and tasty soup. Love it. I made the soup for a sick family member in the hospital and myself. We loved it. Oh, yeah: And my brother had some. He liked it a lot , too. When I spilled some of the soup on the floor, one of my dogs licked it clean. It seems that she liked it as well. ;-) Thanks, Ilva!
One of the ingredients in this soup, fresh parsley, is such a popular herb. I buy it quite often and would love to be able to grow it on my kitchen window. That would be awesome! I love the fresh green earthy taste of this herb and the fact that it has a lot of health benefits — like it’s rich in vitamin C and A. I like how it can be used in a lot of dishes. Apart from being able to eat parsley, my favorite thing to do with it is to use it as a garnish. That touch of green in my plate makes a big difference to me.
I’m submitting this post for the Weekend Herb Blogging event, which Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen created. This week, Pille of Nami Nami acts as host. Check out her blog for the roundup of other Weekend Herb Blogging posts.
Paz
Very Cheap but Very Good Vegetable Soup
The leaves and stem/trunk of 1 cauliflower
2 big tomatoes
Chopped parsley
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
- Chop the tomatoes, add these to the pot and sauté for another 3-4 minutes.
- Add water until the vegetables are well covered and simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Blend until it’s on the smooth side, if it’s too dense you add some more water and heat it up. Check if more salt is needed.
- Serve hot or cold.
Cauliflower, Walnuts and Parsley Salad
May 24, 2007 | Filed Under Lucullian Delights, Salad, Vegetables | 16 Comments
A few things I love: Simple recipes, Ilva’s recipes; Cauliflower, Walnuts and Parsley.
Are there some foods that you sometimes crave? When I first saw this recipe on Ilva’s blog, my body immediately craved cauliflower, walnuts, and parsley. After my first taste, I couldn’t get enough. So far, I’ve made this recipe three times — in one week — once for dinner and twice for lunch.
Ilva prepared her special salad with uncooked cauliflower. However, I wasn’t sure I’d like the uncooked version, so I steamed my cauliflower. The last time I made the salad, I didn’t have time to cook the cauliflower and ended up eating it uncooked. Well, well! Turns out that I liked it. I really liked the uncooked version, too.
Oh! I almost forgot the highlight of preparing the salad was making the herb salt. I was so excited about my herb salt. Yeah, I know. It takes so little to excite me. ;-) My herb salt smelled and tasted divine, it had me doing my happy dance. For the herbs, I used rosemary and thyme. Loved it! Just the thought of my herb salt brings the feelings of a happy dance stiring through my body. Thanks, Ilva!
By the way, Rosa of Rosa’s Yummy Yum Yums is hosting a Sunday Brunch Meme and Event, where participants are asked to blog about the typical meal they have for Sunday Brunch (or your holiday or free day.). The deadline is June 30. If you’re interested in participating, look here for the guidelines.
Paz
Cauliflower, Walnut and Parsley Salad or Insalata di Cavolfiore con Noci e Prezzemolo
A small cauliflower
Walnuts, chopped
Parsle, chopped
Lemon juice
Salt, preferably herb salt
Extra virgin olive oil
- Clean the cauliflower carefully and divide it into quarters.
- Slice the cauliflower finely on a mandolin, slice the’flowery’ part and save the woodier part of the trunk for a soup or something else.
- Put the cauliflower in a bowl, quickly whisk salt, chopped parsley, lemon juice and oil together before adding it to the cauliflower.
- Top with a generous sprinkling of chopped walnuts and serve.
Herb Salt
Fresh herbs, whatever you like, you can make it with different ones or just one.
Coarse salt
- Take a bunch of fresh herbs and remove the woody parts if there are any. Put them in a blender together with a fistful of coarse salt.
- Turn the blender on and let it run until it has become like fine salt. Add more herbs if you want.
- Put it in a jar and use it. Often.
Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Mustard Seeds
July 5, 2006 | Filed Under Cauliflower, Lucullian Delights, Vegetables | Leave a Comment
Click on photo for larger image
The mustard seeds give it a sort of sharp, tangy, yet pleasant taste. I really liked the combination of the flavors from the cauliflower, chickpeas and mustard seeds. They complimented each other. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the taste, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Instead of cauliflower, Ilva used a Romanescu cabbage. I’ve never see or tasted it before and I’d like to try it in the near future. The cabbage looks spectacular. Go check out Ilva’s photo. You won’t want to miss it! Thanks, Ilva!
Paz
Ilva’s recipe:
1 head of cauliflower, I used Romanescu cabbage because it is not only beautiful, it is really nice tasting as well but this works well with normal cauliflower as well
