Miss Thing, Mr. Man and Myself are all mushroom fans – we like them stuffed, sauteed, grilled – you name it. So when we received a big ol’ Portobello in this week’s FFTY box, I got to admit, I did a little happy dance. Unlike apples (of which I have far, far too many of), mushrooms are something I can (almost) never get too much of. If I had received more than one portobello, I probably would have used them in a dish that was more of a showcase for them, but that is okay, because they turned out to be a perfect accompaniement to the Asparagus that I had also received.

Dinner was pretty late last night, in fact – Miss Thing fell asleep before it was ready to eat – Monday’s are hard, because Miss Thing has her Extra Curriculars that night, and we don’t get home until kind of late. Plus Mr. Man had a meeting with one of the big cheeses at his office yesterday, so he didn’t get home until late either – all of which conspired against us having dinner at a reasonable time. On the upside, these veggies were nice and quick to prepare – once the roast (that took the bulk of the cooking time…) was finished.

Anyhow, the weather turned warm again today – which I’m happy about, even if it does bring back my new-this-year allergies. I just don’t think I’ll ever be a rain/wet/cold person. Too much So Cal girl in me, I guess. I suppose I shouldn’t resent my allergies too much – I mean, when they finally start to die down (according to local lore) that will be when the weather REALLY heats up around here, and we’ll have to turn the (gulp) air conditioning on. I’m not looking forward to those energy bills. Upside – they won’t be as bad as last year when we had to run the AC, if for no other reason than because we actually have – you know, WALLS. In like, THE KITCHEN. I’m still so incredibly excited to have an actual kitchen again – hopefully soon I’ll even have trim and backsplash! Then watch out budday!  (Soon being relative – ie, as soon as Mr. Man and I come up with something we can both agree on for the backsplash.)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Asparagus, ends trimmed, cut in to 2″ pieces
• 1 Portobello Mushroom, cut in to 1″ pieces
• 1 Red Onion; diced
• 4 cloves garlic; minced
• 1 tbs Thyme; finely minced
• 1 Lemon; juiced
• 2 tbs Butter
• 1/4 cup Grated Mizithra Cheese (optional)
• Kosher Salt to taste

Method:

• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat
• Add the Onions and saute until translucent
• Push the onions to one side and add the portobello mushroom.
• Saute until mushroom is tender, then combine with onions
• Push Mushrooms and Onions to the side and add Asparagus pieces
• Saute until tender-crisp
• Add Garlic, thyme and Lemon Juice
• Increase heat for just a second or two to allow some of the lemon juice to reduce
• Remove from heat
• Kosher Salt to taste and Sprinkle lightly with grated Mizithra Cheese (if desired)