Smothered Sauteed Veggies

If using rice, start cooking that first.

Dice your onion and mushroom and mince your garlic. Set aside.

Heat the first amount of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat until it is nearly rippling, and will easily spread out to coat the pan. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic, onion and mushroom to the pan, and sauté until the onion begins turning translucent and the mixture is very fragrant. Toss in all your spices (pepper through thyme).

At this point I use my Pyrex 2 cup measuring cup. Add half of the milk and 1/3 of the cornstarch. Mix that well in your handy dandy measuring cup and pour the slurry into the veggies. This is my gluten-free version of a roux. Stir it around and let the quick thickening “roux” soak up all those flavors. Now add the rest of the milk and the broth.

Back to your measuring cup, add the remaining cornstarch and a little of the water. Mix that until you have a milky slurry. Add the rest of the water, mix to combine and pour into the pan with everything else. Turn the heat up a bit and let your mixture bubble and thicken into a delicious gravy.

Now, in another skillet heat the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot add your green beans and asparagus. You are going to saute and sear these veggies. Toss the veggies around to get them coated in the olive oil and then add the garlic powder and crushed red pepper. You only need to cook the veggies for a maximum of 5 minutes. You want them to still be crisp so that you have something to chew on in the dish. Plus the high heat sears them giving them a delicious flavor, but if you cook them too long then they will burn.

To serve put a bed of either pasta or rice on a plate, cover that with a layer of the sautéed vegetables, and smother them with your desired amount of gravy.