On this Fat Tuesday, I read on twitter that Krispy Kreme was giving out free donuts. It’s well documented how little will power I have so after work I traversed the two miles from my office to my nearest Krispy Kreme. Due to my lack of will power, and justifying it with “this is Fat Tuesday, I can do what I want” I proceeded to stop and get a dinner on my way home. Woops. Knowing that I had some scallops thawed and some mango in the fridge, along with some asapargus, I decided I’d make sure to cook something I could take for lunch to make my “fasting” for Ash Wednesday a little easier.
Unfortunately for me, when I pulled the mangoes out, they were moldy…seriously even with all my good intentions and desire to not overbuy, I apparently still can’t always win. Anyway, I decided to use the only other fruit I had in my fridge and create something delicious.
Baked Asparagus – from my brain via the interwebs
Ingredients:
- Half a bushel of asparagus – check
- Cooking Oil (veg or olive oil) – check
- Salt – check
- Pepper – check
- Parmesan cheese – check
- Balsamic vinegar – check
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400F. Wash and dry asparagus and cut off the yucky end of the asparagus (the tough part by the root).
Step 2: Drizzle a little bit of oil (preferably olive but if you’re still using up veg use that instead) onto the asparagus and roll them around until lightly coated. Sprinkle some salt and peppa on the asparagi and similarly roll around so they are even.
Step 3: Grate some Parmesan cheese over the asparagus and pop the whole thing in the oven for roughly 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the asparagus smells fragrent.
Step 4: Take the asparagus out of the oven and drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over. Consume, or consume some for taste and then put the remaining in a container to eat for lunchables!
Citrus Scallops – from my brain
Ingredients:
- 1/8 lb bay scallops – check
- 1 small orange – check
- Salt – check
- Pepper – check
- Packet of soy sauce – check
- Balsamic vinegar – check
Step 1: Cut apart an orange, whatever you’ve got but preferably a blood orange. Put the pieces in a pot and set on low heat.
Step 2: Add some scallops juice and allow to sort of simmer a little bit. Add a pinch of salt for good luck.
Step 3: Add the scallops and allow to simmer in juiciness. Look around the kitchen realizing that you need to add something because just this isn’t going to cut it this time. Find a packet of soy sauce and throw that into the pot. Mix once, then cover and allow to simmer.
Step 4: Uncover the pot and taste a bit of the sauce. Notice it totally needs something and determine that maybe it’s pepper. Put in some pepper. Mix, simmer, taste, it’s not pepper. It needs a little more acid. Put in some balsamic. You’ll be eating these with the asparagus after all so tie it all together. Mix, simmer, taste, it’s a win!
Step 5: Allow sauce to reduce and the scallops to continue cooking. You know they’re done when you squish them and are able to cut them easily with your super spatula. Taste test one and realize it’s awesome. Then allow to cool and put into a container to eat for “lunch” or part two of small meals for Ash Wednesday Fasting.
This tastes AMAZING! I was almost depressed that I’d have to wait until lunch to really eat it but man oh man oh man what a win! A true experiment.
For this foodsperiment +8 for taste, +5 for health benefits, +5 for lunch, +5 for easy cleanup, +5 for taste testing along the way! Happy Sperimenting!
Baked Asparagus (Citrus Scallops not pictured)
