Lemon Cream Sauce Pasta

A few months past, I got invited to be a writer on a blog forum.  I have no idea how they found me or what the criteria is for being invited as a writer, and to be perfectly honest, I'm pretty sure one could invite themselves, but nevertheless, I felt honored.  It's about the little things in life.  However, with everything going on in my life at the time, I didn't really have time to contribute to a second blog especially considering how I had allowed my blog to plummet into the land of dearth, the land of blog posts desperately wanting to be written, and never coming to pass.  It was a sad time for the blog. She felt abandoned, unloved, unappreciated and I couldn't just add insult to injury by contributing on another blog while leaving her smelling of desertion.  She sulked in the corner, always watching from the corner of her eye, waiting for me once again to notice and revive her to life by performing necromancy (a word I learned my dorky video gaming husband- a word that I'll have you know was not on the GRE).  I was sent several emails about starting in the world of blogcritics. These emails urged it's neophytes to begin writing emails quickly, within 24 hours if possible.  I heeded their advice (as well as my mom thinks I obey her advice) by posting mine about three months later.  Better late than never right- as my family always says on their 6 month late birthday cards.  Promptness does not run in the family.

Here is a link to the post up on blogcritics, but I have to warn you, the post was not so incredible.  On a spectrum with the lowest being poopy, the middle being palatable, and the best being absurdly marvelous, it's closer to palatable, just like the not so great white wine I have to flavor with a bit of orange juice- but is cheap so I continue to buy it.  I didn't give it a lot of thought- mostly because I could never find the time, or never made the time.  But the recipe is worth trying. 


Recently, we've discovered a fantastic and simple recipe that is incredibly versatile and amazingly delicious .

The genesis of this recipe came about because of the asparagus screaming to be eaten in our fridge. Recently, Kyle, my husband found asparagus at Costco. Because we live in South Korea, we tend to get overly excited over the simple things- like asparagus and pears.
Korea's variety of vegetables are limited, and what they do have are so expensive I feel like I have to submit my entire paycheck just to eat nutritiously. I am astounded daily, when instead of my pre-school students being told to finish their vegetables, like I was, they are told to eat all of their rice. Some rice is very nutritious, but plain white Korean rice is nothing but filler. They're equally astounded when I don't touch my rice, and worry about my lack of rice intake.
However, lets get back to the asparagus. Because meat is also very expensive, we don't eat it often, and at home (Texas), we had almost always cooked asparagus as a side dish, mostly to something meat-related. But we couldn't figure out what would be the main dish with our asparagus, until I found this recipe at myrecipe.com . It claimed to be a quick, tangy, and a delightful recipe, and it wasn't lying. We made a few changes as normal, but because this recipe is so versatile, you can change it up to suite your tastes.
YIELD: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)
COURSE: Main Dishes
Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked long fusilli (twisted spaghetti)
1 3/4 cups (1 1/2-inch) slices asparagus (about 1/2 pound).
a splash of white wine
1 cup mushrooms.
1 medium onion
1/4 cup imitation crab (or real crab)
1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic clove, minced
1 cup organic vegetable broth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/3 Sour Cream.
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of ground red pepper
Coarsely ground black pepper (optional)
Lemon slices (optional)
We added Sauted sliced onions with a splash of white wine.
Preparation
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add asparagus during last minute of cooking time. Drain pasta mixture.
Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and splash of white wine. Cook 3 minutes. Add garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add mushroom and crab, cooking 2 more minutes. Combine broth and cornstarch in a small bowl; stir until well blended. Add broth mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream, juice, salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and red pepper. Add pasta mixture to broth mixture; toss gently to coat. Garnish with coarsely ground black pepper and lemon slices, if desired. Serve immediately.
Note: If long fusilli is not available in your market, linguine works just as well. Garnish with chopped parsley or chives, if desired and ENJOY!