Asparagus Potato Lasagne

A neat trick to freezing lasagne without it drying out is to freeze a small amount of liquid like stock or wine in ice cubes and put one at each corner of the pan so that as it thaws and cooks, there's a bit of a steam room effect keeping the noodles and filling nice and moist.
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Mushrooms on sale!

What to do with several pounds of mushrooms purchased on sale?  Slice them in the food processor and prep for roasted mushroom sandwiches and freeze mushroom casseroles, of course!

(By the by, I haven't gotten around to doing my mushroom cleaning science experiment because a) I'm easily distracted and b) my mushroom slicer broke.  Eventually...  So I'm still working with the assumption that a quick rinse and pat dry will be sufficient for cleaning and allowing prepped, sliced mushrooms to stand for a day or two in the fridge awaiting cooking.)

You'll need about 2 lbs of mushrooms for 4 sandwiches and 1 1/2 lbs. for each casserole.  I'm making one recipe of sandwiches and 2 casseroles, so I have 5 pounds of mushrooms.  All button-type mushrooms, cremini and white button.  Shitake, oyster, and any other fancy mushroom should be sliced by hand as the food processor will just tear them up rather than slicing them.  Use the slicing plate in your food processor, and you'll be done in no time flat.

For the mushroom casserole, you need to make a thick white sauce for the base of the dish.  I have recently discovered that this can be accomplished in the microwave!  Huzzah!  So fast, so easy and no extra heat in the kitchen.  You will need to use a container that is much larger than seems necessary because the mixture will foam up quite a bit.
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Roasted spring vegetable salad

I am a huge fan of warm or room temperature salads.  This is adapted from an aggravating recipe that I clipped out of the Washington Post a million years ago.  My adaptation involves many fewer steps and only uses vegetables that actually grow in the same season (the original included zucchini and asparagus...yeah, yeah, you CAN buy asparagus nearly year-round...doesn't mean you SHOULD). 

It really is helpful to the cook the beets separately so that they don't color the other vegetables, unless you like completely purple food.  That's today's edition of "I Screw Up So You Don't Have To".

Roasted vegetable salad
Makes 3-4 servings

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp lemon pepper

Shake oil, vinegar and lemon pepper together.  Set aside.

Salad:
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 tbsp butter, divided
1 medium onion, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 lb. asparagus, tough ends trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
1 bunch beets, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 tsp lemon pepper, divided
1/2 tsp dillweed

4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1/4 cup parmesan cheese or goat cheese

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter over medium-high heat.  Saute onions and carrots for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add asparagus, 1/2 tsp lemon pepper and dill, and saute another 5 minutes, until vegetables are browned and soft.  Put vegetables into a bowl.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter in the same skillet and lower heat to medium.  Add beets to the pan and season with 1/2 tsp lemon pepper.  Saute beets for 8 minutes, until soft.  Add beets to other vegetables. 

To serve, dress the lettuce with the vinaigrette, reserving some for serving at the table.  Put the vegetables in the dressed lettuce and sprinkle with cheese.  Pass extra dressing on the side. Pin It