Recipe of the Week! This week: Marinated Asparagus Appitizer

Here's a new feature for all of you lovely readers out there, a recipe of the week.  Now that I've begun dieting, I've realized how important it is to have some good healthy recipes in your arsenal!  This one is an appetizer that my dad slightly modified from a Paula Deen recipe.  I can't find the original version on her website, but here is the even more delicious version my dad came up with!

We have VERY large family events just about every weekend, and there's always about 20 people crowded around the marinated asparagus dish!  We've even converted some people who never liked asparagus before into huge fans!  Enjoy!

Marinated Asparagus 

Ingredient List:
1 or 2 bunch(es) Asparagus
Olive Oil - approx 2/3 cup
Tarragon Vinegar - approx 4 tablespoons to taste
Shallot - 1 or 2 medium size
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
pinch crushed red pepper flake (optional)

Preparation:
Bend each asparagus spear until the tough bottom portion snaps off. Discard bottoms.
Drop asparagus into large pot boiling water. Blanche for 3 minutes.
Drain and plunge asparagus into ice water bath to stop cooking process.

Place in oblong serving dish and set aside.

Peel and dice shallots and reserve.

Combine olive oil, tarragon vinegar, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flake in bowl and whisk briskly. Add shallots and pour over asparagus.

Allow to marinate for 1/2 hour before serving. 

Kelly Elizabeth: Weight Crusader!

Over the past two years my body has been on a crazy ride.

When I first started college I didn't like the school I was at, it was so cold and windy outside all the time that I never went out, and I wasn't clicking with anyone on campus, I was super depressed, and for the second semester I barely left my room and almost flunked out.  During this period of time I lost 40 pounds, 30 of which I really couldn't have afforded to loose.  I think I was somewhere in the 125 to 130 range at my thinest, which for a person as tall as me is really far too thin.

After my first miserable year at college I transfered to a school that I love that's in a great area, with great people, and it's a short train ride into Manhattan should I feel the urge to soak in some culture.  Unfortunately, with all of this luck I've become, as they say, "fat and happy".  I'd say that right now I weigh about 180 pounds, I'm 6 feet tall so I'm not morbidly obese or anything but I really need to loose some weight and get healthy.

My target weight would be somewhere around 140 or 150.  For a lot of years I was pretty steady at 152 pounds, and even then I probably could have stood to loose 5 to 10 pounds.  I'm not so focused on these numbers as much as I just want to look good and be healthy.

I've just started my weight crusade today and I've decided to chronicle my attempt to eat healthier and make a positive lifestyle change...