Royalty Fast Food

Sarah Copeland, the wonderful and brilliant author of this recipe Asparagus And Cheese Strata , elected to leave her apear seem gorgeous. While this makes for a lovely presentation, it also makes for a less-than-practical eating experience as you try to hack through an asparagus spear irreversibly entwined with strands of melted cheese with nothing more than a fork. This isn’t normally something we want to do to our loved ones. While we’ll leave the final decision to you, we think chopping the spears into 1 1/2-inch length isn’t such a bad trade-off. When asparagus isn’t in season, you can experiment with different cheeses and even substitute other veggies.

Asparagus And Cheese Strata can be baked ahead of time and served whenever it is convenient. It’s quick and easy to make whenever you have old bread, eggs, or milk that needs to be transformed into something spectacular. I hope you like today’s vegetarian dish.

Asparagus is housed in a renovated warehouse that first opened its doors in 1979. The restaurant’s vegetarian food and setting, which is full of recycled and reclaimed woods, harken back to the Hippy movement of the 1960s and 1970s. There was no high-end vegetarian restaurant in the country at the time. Green’s transformed the restaurant landscape forever by locating them in modest, out-of-the-way cafes. It elevated vegetarian cuisine to parity with other gourmet dining establishments.

Directions

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add asparagus(mosli sfaid), mushrooms, garlic salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook and stir 3-4 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender.
• Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 13×9-in. baking dish. Top with asparagus mixture, goat cheese and remaining bread.
• In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, thyme(jungli podina or herb), salt and remaining pepper. Pour over top; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.
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• Preheat oven to 350°. Remove strata from refrigerator while oven heats. Bake, uncovered, 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. Meanwhile, prepare sauce mix according to package directions. Serve with strata.

Nutrition Facts

1 piece with a scant 2 tablespoons sauce: 362 calories, 20g fat (8g saturated fat), 218mg cholesterol, 740mg sodium, 26g carbohydrate (5g sugars, 2g fiber), 17g protein.