Marinated Mushrooms with Garlic, Lemon and Herbs, and other Summer Grilled / Marinated Vegetables

Delicious appetiser / antipasti, side dishes, or even starters. Makes for great vegetarian mezze / tapas dishes to share.

I really love mushrooms, and remember making Mushrooms a la Grecque many, many years ago. I thought I'd add my own spin to it, by charring the mushrooms a little first, as a nod to the char-grilled marinated artichokes we enjoy, and a few of my favourite flavours.

             

Scroll down for a couple of other recipes / suggestions for side dishes to go alongside the mushrooms (as pictured). 

These dishes will collectively serve 4-6 people as sides for lunch, and keep well in the fridge for a few days (see notes).

Calories per serving for those counting: Mushrooms - 70, Asparagus - 50, Peppers and Tomatoes - 61. Total calories for all three dishes as sides - 181.

If you're not counting calories, feel free to slug in extra oil and serve with Parmesan shavings, torn mozzarella, goats' cheese, feta cheese, pine nuts, and / or whatever else you fancy scattered on top or along side!

Spanish Scrambled Eggs with Asparagus and Prawns (or Mushrooms) - Revuelto de Esparragos con Gambas

Fantastic lunch or light meal, simple ingredients but absolutely delicious!

When quick, easy and totally tasty is the objective, this is a dish that ticks all the boxes and not only that, it's deceptively healthy despite tasting rather decadent!
             
 
Serves one, easily doubled. 295 calories per serving made with prawns, 251 made with mushrooms (for the vegetarian option). 

You could just use one egg, and ½ tbsp milk and knock off 91 calories if you prefer, for a lighter snack (196/152 calories), but two eggs makes it into more of a satisfying dish with a nice amount of protein. Mix it up with different vegetables and/or Serrano ham, Chorizo, or even some smoked salmon (not quite so Spanish!) scattered over the top at the end!

Dustbin Soup - and / or Broccoli and Stilton Soup

Yes, DUSTBIN soup! Which is delicious, unlike its name - so please don't be put off, and read on, read on!

I did debate whether to call it by this name, which is what we call it at home, but not to do so, just wouldn't feel right! It's alternative name could have been "Green and Blue Soup", an allusion to the fact that it is predominately made from green vegetables, and the flavour lifted by a touch of blue cheese. But to calm your beating heart, I've included the suggestion for broccoli and blue cheese soup, just in case you want to serve it to anyone else and have a name for it...

Anyway, I digress. Basically, this is something which happens on a regular basis, especially during the colder months, as a way to make the most out of vegetables which need eating, and also (especially?) to use up tasty parts of vegetables which might otherwise be consigned to the dustbin (hence the name!) - such as broccoli stalks, and asparagus ends.

Broccoli stalks are often thrown away, and yet they're actually really delicious once peeled - either raw and julienned in salads, or cooked in soups, or again julienned (yes, you can't beat a bit of mandolin action!), steamed and tossed in butter with a grinding of fresh black pepper. Asparagus ends are another victim to the bin or compost heap, and yet they too make delicious soup - if they're particularly woody it pays dividends to finish by passing the soup through a sieve for a deliciously smooth and creamy result. Just using broccoli and asparagus stalks alone, and making up to 500g with some cauliflower makes for a delicious, and delicately flavoured soup.

The quantities suggested will give you around 1,400ml of soup, which gives you 7 servings at 200ml per serving (a couple of ladlefuls). If you want a calorie count, just measure what you've got, and divide it into portions to suit you - for the soup below, it's 91 calories per 200ml serving (or 95 calories if you make with 500g broccoli, for a delicious broccoli and stilton soup).

Ten-minute Trout, Asparagus and New Potato (Warm) Salad

Simple, quick and satisfying and ready in minutes - a delicious dish with minimal effort.

If you prefer, substitute salmon fillet(s) instead, from the tail end where they're flat and triangular, which will be equally delicious - ready-to-eat smoked trout fillets would work really well too, if you don't want to cook the trout yourself. A nice addition which combines perfectly with the other flavours is a boiled egg with a creamy yolk, quartered and nestling on top.

Serves two, 315 calories per serving - easily halved or doubled (calories in square brackets if you're counting). Add another 88 calories for a UK medium sized egg (58g).

Sesame-Miso Asparagus or Green Beans (...or Broccoli?)

Add a taste of the Orient to your green vegetables, with this delicious dressing, full of nutty, toasty, umami flavours

You can serve this hot, warm, or cool. It's fantastic as a side to Japanese dishes such as Teriyaki, Yakitori or Kushiyaki, or as part of a vegetarian spread or a Bento box and there's really nothing to it other than cooking your vegetables, and giving the dressing ingredients a stir before tossing them all together.

I love to have asparagus served this way with Teriyaki salmon (well, I'm always after different ways to eat salmon and asparagus together - they're two of my favourite things!); or make it with steamed green beans if we're having Teriyaki chicken, both served with my cucumber-radish pickles and some rice (or cauliflower rice) tossed with sliced spring onions, and maybe a splash of toasted sesame oil...

I have a little recipe plan for making Teriyaki chicken/salmon/tofu with rice, the above and cucumber-radish pickles all in under half an hour including preparation time, which I'll post, as it's great to be able to make something tasty, varied and a little bit exotic in a short amount of time if you organise how you do it!

Serves two, 59 calories per serving.

Speedy Salmon, Asparagus and Cherry Tomato Sautée, with Lemon and Basil

Something quick, tasty, and packed with flavour, for an easy, healthy weeknight meal

Italian flavours give a new lease of life to salmon and asparagus.

A quick chop, heat up the pan and you're ready to go!

Serves two, 322 calories per serving

Artichoke, Asparagus and Fennel Salad with a Lemon Dressing

This is a beautiful, Spanish-inspired dish, which really takes salad to a whole new level.

It makes great use of what some would consider luxury ingredients, and with the Spanish slant, goes wonderfully with things like grilled chicken, fish and seafood, or my Moorish-Spiced Pork and Padron Pepper kebabs, and makes a stunning dish on a table of food to share with friends.

Serves four as a side, 91 calories per portion.
Feel free to chop and change the ingredients according to what you’ve got! [Calories in square brackets]

Tea-Smoked Chicken, Mango and Asparagus Salad with a Toasted Sesame and Soy Dressing

A simple salad to throw together - you could use any cooked chicken, or tea-smoke your own!

Tired of eating the same old salads? Bored of bland, dry, chicken? Want something that is equally delightful as a light meal or an impressive starter if you make the smoked chicken yourself?

All you need to smoke the chicken yourself is a wok, some foil, and either wood-dust, or a tablespoon each of tea leaves, sugar and raw rice. And you can make it a day or two before-hand, and just slice and serve.

More about that here.

Otherwise, you could use char-grilled, barbequed, or roasted chicken breasts, or even the leftovers from Sunday lunch and you will still have a delicious salad to go.

Keep the dressing separate, and you have a delicious lunch to take to work with you (or even make for your nearest and dearest, ahhhh). Got your tastebuds tingling? And it's only 262 calories per portion, or 131 calories as a starter! Serves two as a main, four as a starter. Here's the recipe: