A Vegetable Sauté for a Farmers' Market Lunch

After weeks of cloudy, cold weather, today was all blue skies and 70's-warm. The Santa Monica Farmers' Market had a selection of Southern California winter produce: sugar snap peas, English peas, carrots, broccoli, spinach, turnips, beets, Yukon potatoes, fingerlings, asparagus, artichokes, mushrooms, bok choy... Some days a simple vegetable sauté makes the best meal. Today that was our lunch.

Farmers' Market Fresh Vegetable Saute

Yield: 4 servings
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 large carrots, peeled, cut into large rounds
1 lb sugar snap peas, washed, ends & strings removed
4 Yukon potatoes, washed, cut into chunks (not peeled)
10 brown mushrooms, washed, sliced
2 bunches asparagus, fat ones, washed, bottom end trimmed
4 garlic cloves, peeled, thin sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup water or chicken stock
2 tablespoons sweet butter
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Sauté the potatoes and gralic in the olive oil on a medium flame until browned. Add the carrots, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, and asparagus. Cook for 5 minutes, turning frequently. Add stock or water and butter, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the cover, raise the heat, and reduce the liquid to coat the vegetables.

Mushroom Soup

My mother had a couple of specialties when we were growing up: a braised brisket of beef topped with a package of Lipton's onion soup, sour cream dip made with canned clams, and tuna casserole sauced with Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.

I still remember those dishes fondly.

What I learned from my mom was to have fun cooking, to care about flavors, and to find the most efficient way possible to make a dish. Use the fewest ingredients, don't be overly complicated, and clean up as you cook. That was her mantra.

Today I made a simple soup for lunch: mushroom soup with a handful of garlic. With a small salad and some grilled lavash, we were very happy.

Garlic-Mushroom Soup

Yield: 4 servings
Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic, peeled, finely chopped
3 sprigs parsley, washed, finely chopped, stems and leaves
5 shallots, peeled, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound mushrooms, shitaki or chanterelles, washed, thinly sliced, stems included
1 tablespoon butter
4 cups water or chicken stock
1/4 cup cream or half and half (optional)
1 tablespoon cooked rice per serving or cooked pasta (optional)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Over a medium flame, sauté the garlic, shallots, and parsley with the olive oil until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and butter. Stir well and continue to cook for 15 minutes until lightly browned, then add the stock or water to deglaze the pan.

Simmer for 30 minutes on a low flame. Taste and adjust the flavors, adding sea salt and black pepper as needed. In the last 5 minutes, add the cream, being careful to avoid a boil.

When serving, put a tablespoon of cooked rice or cooked pasta (optional) on the bottom of the bowl, then add the soup and mushrooms.