Janelle Bloom

Janelle Bloom is the Food Editor of Super Foods Ideas magazine - Australia’s number 1 food magazine. She has been a food writer and food stylist for over ten years and is well known for her weekly cooking segments on Channel Nine’s popular cooking shows, What’s Cooking with Geoff Jansz and more recently, ‘Fresh Cooking with Jason Roberts. Here’s what Janelle has to say about asparagus:

“Fresh asparagus is the sign that winter has passed and spring and summer are not far away. Being a beach girl I love the warmer months. It means quick, easy, light and healthy meals, which is the way I love to eat. I love the way that asparagus takes hardly any time to cook and the preparation is as easy as trimming the ends!

As asparagus is such a wonderful vegetable I really like to keep it simple - too many complex flavours and you don’t experience the true simplicity of the spears. I like to microwave asparagus until it is just tender but still crisp and bright green, then top it with a quick salsa made from tomatoes, cucumber, chilli, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil.

For a great start to a lazy barbecue meal, I also like to make a quick balsamic dressing to pour over the spears. Leave them to marinate, then when you’re ready to cook them, skewer the ends of the asparagus, cook them on the barbecue and serve them with a quick garlic mayonnaise.

Tempura asparagus is a real favourite of mine - I dip fresh asparagus spears in a lovely light beer batter and fry them in light olive oil until crisp. They’re great served with wasabi sour cream dressing - everyone loves them!”

Being the microwave expert - and fondly referred to as ‘Queen of the Waves’ - Janelle finds cooking asparagus in the microwave the easiest way, as she explains, “Simply trim the ends of the asparagus. With the water still clinging to it, place it in a freezer bag. Twist the bag to secure and arrange it on the microwave turntable so that the asparagus forms a single layer in the bag. Cook the asparagus until bright green and tender crisp, 1-2 minutes. Take care when opening the bag to avoid the steam, then tip out the asparagus and enjoy.”

Recipes

Spiced Barbecued Mushrooms
Asparagus with Avocado Salsa

From the Chefs

Meet the Chefs

Back | Home | About Asparagus | Recipes & Tips | What's New | From the Chefs | Supplying Asparagus | Contact us | Site Map

Copyright© Australian Asparagus Council. Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure that the information on this website is correct and up to date, no representation is made or warranty given (either express or implied) as to the completeness, accuracy or currency of the information that it contains. Last updated August 2007