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This is one of my favorite ways to eat asparagus, simply paired with a plain old poached egg. There is no real recipe to this just cook the asparagus the way you like it. I like to simply blanche mine for a minute and the poach an egg in boiling salted water and sit it on top. Poaching for 3 minutes will give you a perfect runny yolk to dip the still crunchy spears in.
There you go a very quick and satisfying meal packed full of goodness.
Now I know it’s not in season but I just love asparagus and I look forward to the fresh English asparagus every springtime.
Consuming fruits and vegetables of all kinds has long been associated with a reduced risk of many lifestyle-related health conditions.
Many studies have suggested that increasing consumption of plant foods like asparagus decreases the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and overall mortality while promoting a healthy complexion and hair, increased energy and overall lower weight.
Asparagus ranks among the top 20 foods in regards to its ANDI score (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index); this score measures vitamin, mineral, and phytonutrient content in relation to the caloric content.
To earn a high ANDI rank, food must provide a high amount of nutrients for a small amount of calories.
Asparagus is one of the best natural sources of folate. Adequate folate intake is extremely important during periods of rapid growth such as pregnancy, infancy, and adolescence.
Asparagus is high in both fiber and water content, this helps to prevent constipation, maintain a healthy digestive tract, and lower the risk of colon cancer.
Adequate fiber promotes regularity, which is crucial for the daily excretion of toxins through the bile and stool. Recent studies have shown that dietary fiber may also play a role in regulating the immune system and inflammation, consequently decreasing the risk of inflammation-related conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity.
According to the Department of Internal Medicine and Nutritional Sciences Program of the University of Kentucky, high fiber intake is associated with a significantly lower risk of developing coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and certain gastrointestinal diseases.
Increased fiber intake has also been shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, improve insulin sensitivity, and enhance weight loss for obese individuals.
Yesterday was a good day. I got lots of cooking done from making bread to soup for lunch which I told you about yesterday and last night following inspiration from Malibu Kitchen’s recipe for a similar tart I decided to make a tart from ingredients in the fridge that were starting to get towards the end of their shelf life. There are quite a few ingredients in my tart which could make it a bit on the expensive side if you were to buy all the ingredients fresh. I think the point of this tart is to start with a basic pastry base a few eggs some cream and milk and then look at what you have in the fridge or in your veg basket and design your own tart from there.
I pretty much followed Malibu Kitchen’s recipe because I had most of what she has in her recipe in the fridge. I just had less of it. I did however have the remains of some wonderful samphire that I had bought form Julies Hut, my local crab and fresh fish shack here in Selsey. Can I just say at this point I absolutely love the salty taste of fresh samphire!
I decided I was not going to buy in puff pastry that the recipe originally required but make my own wholemeal pastry. Pastry is not that healthy at the best of times so making it wholemeal at least makes me feel better and I think it has a better taste to it also. I also made my tart slightly smaller so that it meant I would need one less egg and considerably less cream. I have not in the end priced this recipe up as I feel it is irrelevant as like you it is made up of odds and ends that have all been used in previous recipes. I guess though as a rough estimate for a tart that would feed 6 people the basic recipe works out at around £0.82 then you add your fillings.
