Asparagus Stuffed Artichoke part deux

"Never, never give up" Winston Churchill.

2 Large artichokes

To prepare artichokes remove 1-2 rows of outer petals.
Cut off stem so artichokes will sit by themselves.
Cut off tips of petals.

Stuffing
15 thin asparagus spears - sliced about 1/4 inch
10 cherry tomatos - chopped
1 portobello mushroom - chopped
1 large scallion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 bunch fresh basil - chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 T rosemary - crushed
1/2 T thyme
4-oz hummus

Combine in a large bowl.

Preparation
Gently fill petals of artichoke with stuffing, be sure to put some in the center of the flower.

Place each artichoke in a slow cooker. Add enough water to fill the bottom about 3/4" deep.

Cook
Cover and cook. 3-4 hours on high 6 hours low.

Asparagus Stuffed Artichoke

Here's the latest concoction to come out of my kitchen:

4-6 Large artichokes (I'm not really sure how many this will fill, this is a rough gestimate)
To prepare artichokes remove 1-2 rows of outer petals.
Cut off stem so artichokes will sit by themselves.
Cut off tips of petals.

Stuffing
10 thin asparagus spears - sliced about 1/4 inch
10 med-large button mushroom - chopped
1 small red onion - chopped
1 small clove garlic - minced
1/2 bunch fresh basil - chopped
1/2 cup almonds - chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp rosemary - crushed
1 cup un-seasoned bread crumbs
8-oz hummus

In a large bowl combine vegetables, almonds, and seasonings. Add in bread crumbs.
Gently stir in hummus.

Preparation
Gently fill petals of artichoke with stuffing, be sure to put some in the center of the flower.

Place each artichoke in a slow cooker. Add enough water to fill the bottom about 3/4" deep.

Cook
Cover and cook. 3-4 hours on high 6 hours low.

Artichoke Red Pepper Pasta

Topping
olive oil
1 large red onion - sliced
1 small scallion - thinly sliced
4 baby artichokes - boiled and separated
3 tsps Amazing Spice
1 tsp dried rosmary
1/4 cup pinenuts
1/8 cup red wine vinegar

Amazing Spice
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

In pan saute topping until pinenuts are golden - reserving the vinegar until the last few minutes of cooking time.

Remove from heat and serve over pasta.

Oh! Crap! The Spinach! aka Spinach Pasta Salad

I always manage to forget some vegatable in the bottom of my fridge. This time, it happened to be the spinach. It was on the verge of going the way of all old veggies, when I decided to put it to good use. With that in mind I set about to create a delightful meal with what I had in my fridge. Behold:

1 T olive oil
2 med-small scallions - thinly sliced
1 small leek - sliced
1 cup mixed nuts - chopped
1 clove garlic - minced
dried rosemary
dried thyme
salt
pepper
1/4 cup cooking marsala

rigatoni for 2-4

1 bunch spinach - raw, washed - ripped into bite sized pieces
1 cup crumbled cheese of choice (optional)

Prepare pasta in usual fashion. Remove from heat. Drain.

saute thescallionss, leek, and garlic in olive oil. Add chopped nuts, spices (crush spices as you add them to bring out the flavor), and marsala and cook a little longer until nuts are browning and marsala is mostly evaporated. Remove from heat.

At this point you really have two options, depending on how you feel about cooked spinach. I hate cooked spinach. There are few foods in the world that I love one way and hate another. Spinach happens to be one of them.

Variations:
1. For a hot pasta salad combine spinach and the sauted vegetables in a bowl. Mix well — being careful to not bruise the spinach. Combine that into the pasta. Serve immediately.

2. For a cold salad allow all ingredients to cool, then combine as described in variation 1.

Both variations keep well over night and are quite tasty the next day — hot or cold.