Spinach Stuffed Italian Portobellos

Holy Cow. 2 recipes in less than 6 months. I'm on a roll, people.

I wanted to put meat in this dish, mixed in with the spinach and cheese, but the pan I wanted to use was washing in the dishwasher. Therefore, because of my extreme laziness, we have a healthier, vegetarian dish :).

I served this as a main dish with my zucchini crisps as a side, but I think this would easily work as a hearty side dish to a steak dinner.

Spinach Stuffed Italian Portobellos

Serves 2

Ingredients

3-4 large portobello mushrooms, washed and gills removed with a spoon

1/4 c olive oil

1 Tbs Italian seasoning

1 can spinach (or better yet, frozen spinach thawed)

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, and a little extra for sprinkling on top

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

2. Mix Italian seasoning and olive oil. Coat both sides of the mushrooms and let them marinate for about 15 minutes.

3. Place mushrooms on baking sheet, gill side down. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping them over halfway through.

4. Meanwhile, mix the spinach, breadcrumbs and Parmesan in a medium sized bowl. Once the mushrooms are done, fill the caps with about 1/2 cup of filling, and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan.

5. Put back in the 450F oven for about 5 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the topping mixture is heated through.

Parmesan Zucchini Crisps

Hey Everyone!

It's been a while. Like, 6 months. I got into a slump. A cooking slump, a life slump, a slumpy slump.

I'm not sure I'm totally out of it, but at least I've recently felt inspired to try cooking new things again. I'm completely out of practice for taking food photos, so I'm going to have ease back into taking good looking photos again.

I recently made these zucchini crisps I found on the EatingWell website (which I highly recommend as a healthy recipe search engine!).

Tony and I both really enjoyed them. They are simple enough to cook on a weeknight, but actually look pretty impressive when served!

Enjoy!

Parmesan Zucchini Crisps

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 medium zucchini, sliced diagonally into1/4" medallions
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Procedure:
1. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat.
2. Add zucchini to skillet, toss in oil and cook for about 20 minutes, flipping the medallions over about half way through. The zucchini should be lightly browned on both sides and soft in the middle.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste, then place a pinch of Parmesan on top of each medallion. Cook on low heat for about 2 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy as a side or even an appetizer!

Chana Masala

I love Indian food.

I have a pal who goes to eat delicious Indian food with me at least once a month. My favorite dish to get is called Chana Masala, which is a spiced garbanzo (chick pea) and tomato dish with the consistency of a hearty stew or chili.

Actually, I marketed this to Tones as "Indian Chili". He liked it! I think the real name would have scared him off from trying it.

Be warned, this dish is SPICY. There are, however, ways you can reduce the spice. For example, don't use the membrane and seeds of the chili pepper used, and reduce the amount of cayenne pepper by half (or more).

I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen, and only tweaked it a little bit. It's an outstandingly easy dish to prepare, particularly now that Uncle Ben's Rice has a 90 second microwavable Basmati rice product!

Chana Masala

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 small onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Serrano chili (or any other chili), diced

1 inch of fresh ginger, diced

1 Tbs ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garam masala

1 can whole tomatoes, diced, juices reserved

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 c water

Juice from 1 lemon

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Heat about 1 Tbs oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, chili pepper and ginger. Sautee for about 5 minutes, or until tender and onions are translucent.

2. Add the spices, and stir to incorporate. STEP BACK. When the cayenne pepper is heated it can cause irritation to mucus membranes (i.e. it makes me cough). Just be careful :). Cook another 2 minutes or so on medium heat.

3. Add tomatoes and juices, garbanzo beans and water. Stir well, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and salt to taste.

Serve with flatbread, naan, or basmati rice.

My New Favorite Grilled Cheese

This is not a manly grilled cheese sandwich.

In fact, if I served this to Tony, he'd probably ask 1) if we were out of good old American and 2) what we were really planning on eating for dinner. Lucky for me 1-2 nights of the week I'm on my own for dinner, and I can eat whatever I darn well want without any cracks from the peanut gallery. Hurumph.

I've seen many variations of this type of grilled cheese sandwich on the cooking channel and food blogs, but I made this one with the ingredients I had on hand--so this is what you get to read about! I really enjoyed this sandwich, and it gave me more ideas for new combinations I plan on trying in the future. Enjoy!

Golden Delicious and Muenster Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Serves 1

Ingredients:

2 slices sourdough bread

1/2 small golden delicious apple, sliced into thin wedges

2 slices low-fat muenster cheese

1-2 Tbs margarine or butter

Procedure:

1. Butter one side of both pieces of bread. Put a small skillet with a spritz of cooking spray over medium heat.

2. Begin to build the sandwich: with butter sides OUT, add cheese, apples, and then a final layer of cheese.

3. Place the sandwich on the skillet for about 2 minutes, or until the bottom is browned to your liking, and flip over. Cook for an additional 2 minutes until the cheese is melting and both sides are golden.

Shitake Mushroom and Spinach Pasta

This was a quick, throw together meal I made during this past week.

I bet this recipe would go well with any kind of mushroom, so don't worry if you can find shitake mushrooms (dehyrdated or otherwise).

Who else likes saying "shitake"!? Yes, I can have the maturity level of a 7 year old. Whatever.

Shitake Mushroom and Spinach Pasta

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

4 cups mushrooms (I had dehydrated shitakes. To rehydrate, soak in water for about 20-30 minutes, or until pliable and soft. I de-stemmed them before use.)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs olive oil

1 pat butter

1/4 cup white wine

1 cup spinach

1/2 lb noodles, cooked and drained (I like using Mrs. Miller's noodles, but any traditional pasta or egg noodle will work)

Procedure:

1. Heat oil and butter in skillet on medium heat.

2. When butter is melted and beginning to sizzle, add the mushrooms and garlic.

3. Cook mushrooms for about 3-5 minutes, or until dark in color and tender.

4. Add the white wine and spinach. Cook for about 1-2 more minutes.

5. Finally, toss in the noodles and cook for another minute.

6. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese, or just by itself!

Butternut Squash Tortellini with Brown Butter Sauce

This recipe is only, like, 5 months late.

Whatever. I'm busy.

Sophie and I made this a few months ago, and it made so much, we ended up eating for about 2 weeks. Blahrgh. Maybe that's why I haven't wanted to think about it until now.

Plus, as you'll see below, this recipe is exhausting.

The recipe comes from The Food Network's Giada de Laurentiis. It is so involved, I essentially copied and pasted from the original webpage.

Butternut Squash Tortellini with Brown Butter Sauce

Tortellini and Filling:

1 butternut squash, approximately 2 pounds, cubed (about 3 cups)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons

1 1/2 teaspoon herbs de Provence

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

2 large shallots, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

4 small amaretti cookies, crushed (about 1/3 cup)

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 package small wonton wrappers

Brown Butter Sauce:

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 tablespoons torn fresh sage leaves

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries, or chopped dried cherries, or mixture of both

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

To make the tortellini, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. On a foil-lined baking sheet toss together the butternut squash, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper. Bake in the oven until soft and golden, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a small saute pan over medium heat. Cook the shallots and garlic until lightly golden, about 3 minutes.

In a food processor, combine the butternut squash mixture, the shallot mixture, and the ricotta cheese and pulse a few times to blend. Add the crushed amaretti cookies, the nutmeg, and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pulse until smooth. The tortellini filling can be made one day ahead.

To make the tortellini, lay out 6 wonton skins, keeping the remaining skins inside the package or under a very lightly dampened paper towel. Place 1 tablespoon of squash mixture in the middle of each skin. Dip a pastry brush in a little water and wet the edges of the skin. Gently fold the square wrapper into a triangle, making sure the edges are securely closed and there are no air pockets inside. Dampen the two bottom corners of the longest side of the triangle and gently bring them together, pressing lightly to secure. Place the formed tortellini on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Before laying out another 6 wonton sheets, be careful to dry the work surface. This will help keep tortellini from sticking to the baking sheet. Continue until all the butternut squash mixture is used. There should be approximately 36 tortellini. (The tortellini can be formed, frozen on the baking sheet, transferred to a tightly sealed plastic bag or container and stored for up to six months. To cook, simply toss the frozen ravioli into the salted boiling water and cook for 4 minutes.)

To make the sauce and serve, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat.

Add the sage, walnuts and cranberries and let cook until the butter starts to brown, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat off and season with salt, and pepper.

Stir to combine. Then, gently place the tortellini in the boiling water and gently stir. When they begin to float they are done, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, gently spoon the tortellini onto a serving platter, Top with the brown butter sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Whew. I need simple. This, my friends, is not all that simple.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Cakes

Sweet potatoes were on sale at the grocery store the other weekend, and I sought to find a recipe that was new (i.e. not just baked/mashed sweet potatoes) that I could serve as a main dish. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com, and I decided to try it out. Stupidly, I didn't really have all the ingredients I needed, so I had to tweak the recipe quite a bit. Sigh.

My verdict about the recipe is that the lime sour cream topping really makes these cakes extraordinary. By themselves, they were a little dry. Perhaps a little more tweaking and experimenting is in order...

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Cakes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Lime Sour Cream:

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tsp lime juice (I used from concentrate, fresh is probably better)

1 tsp diced green chili peppers from can (or 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, fancy pants)

Bean and Potato Cakes:

1 Tbs olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can diced chili peppers

1.5 tsp ground cumin

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup of raw sweet potato, grated

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup bread crumbs (all I had was Italian bread crumbs, and it worked out fine)

Procedure:

1. Prepare lime sour cream first. Mix the sour cream, lime juice and peppers well, and store covered in the fridge to meld the flavors together.

**Turn on the broiler**

2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic, chili peppers and cumin until fragrant and golden. Be careful not to burn the garlic, as it has a bitter flavor when it is burnt.

3. In a large bowl mix the black beans with the chili-garlic mixture. With a potato masher or a fork, mash the black beans with the peppers. Mix in the sweet potatoes, egg and bread crumbs until patties can be formed.

4. Take a large spoonful of the mixture and roll into a 1.5 inch ball. Place on a greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart from one another. With the bottom of a glass or the palm of your hand, flatten the balls into patties.

5. Broil about 8 minutes on one side, then carefully flip over using a wide spatula, and broil another 3-5 minutes on the other side, until crispy.

6. Serve with a dollop of the lime sour cream.

Baby Portobello and Spinach Whole Wheat Lasagna

Whew. I need to update this baby. Sorry for the silence, but things are busy. We've been eating a lot of sandwiches, and fake-meat tacos. Yum.

This particular lasagna recipe is great because you don't need to boil the noodles beforehand, which really cuts back on the preparation time for this dish. Feel free to substitute the veggies with cooked ground beef or Italian sausage!

Baby Portobello and Spinach Whole Wheat Lasagna

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 large bag of fresh spinach

8 oz cremini (baby portobello mushrooms), sliced

9 whole wheat lasagna noodles

16 oz cottage cheese (or ricotta, fancy pants)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

26 oz pasta sauce (about 1 jar of your favorite brand)

Italian seasoning blend for garnish

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Saute the mushrooms for about 3-5 minutes over medium-high heat in a skillet, until they are deeply colored and fragrant. Transfer them to a plate, and return the skillet back to the heat.

3. Wilt the spinach in the skillet for about 3 minutes, then when dark green, transfer to a plate.

4. Spray a 9"x11" baking dish with cooking spray. Begin to build the lasagna.

5. First, coat the bottom of the baking dish with a thin layer of pasta sauce. Place three noodles, not overlapping, on the sauce. Add equal amounts of spinach and mushrooms as the next layer. Top this with dollops of the cottage cheese and about 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella. Coat with sauce, then continue the pattern until ingredients run out. Top the final layer with mozzarella and cottage cheese if there is any left. Be sure that the top layer of noodles are coated with pasta sauce, otherwise they will not properly cook.

6. Bake at 350F for about 35-45 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and the cheese is nice and melted.

Aloo Palak: Pureed Spinach with Potatoes

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'm kind of in a cooking funk. I'll get over it soon, hopefully.

My friend, Sophie, came over recently and we tried our hand at cooking an Indian dish. The result was...okay...but not as good as something you would get in a real Indian restaurant. I didn't have cumin seeds, only cumin powder, so that might have interfered with the taste a bit. It was spicy, thanks to the peppers, but didn't have that traditional Indian flavor we were looking for. Oh well, it was worth a shot!

Aloo Palak

Adapted from Recipezaar

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 bunches spinach

1 red onion, diced

2 green chili peppers (we used jalapenos...heh...), diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 large Russet potatoes, cubed

1 tsp turmeric

4 Tbs butter

1 tsp cumin powder (or seeds, if you have them)

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp ground coriander

Procedure:

1. Cook spinach with onion, peppers and garlic until wilted and fragrant, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes with the turmeric for 8-10 minutes, or until fork tender. (They turn yellow from the turmeric---cool!)

3. Puree the spinach mixture in a food processor or blender.

4. Heat the butter and the cumin in a large skillet over medium heat until the cumin is fragrant--be careful not to burn the butter!

5. Add the spinach mixture and simmer for about 5 mintues. Then add the drained potatoes, and heat for additional 2-5 minutes.

Serve with basmati rice and naan! Yum!

Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Bake

Ok, this recipe is painfully easy...and um, well painfully bland. Tony and I talked about ways to jazz it up (like using REAL cheddar cheese instead of the cheap-o brand), or adding other seasonings like cumin and chili powder.

I think that this recipe is totally customizable, and flavor can come in a variety of ways. Want a kick? Use Spanish rice and add some fresh or canned tomatoes. Want a hearty, savory dish? Add some meaty mushrooms (like baby portobellos) and use wild rice. Want to be a fancy-mc-fancy-pants? Use some foo-foo cheeses.

The possibilities are endless, my friends.

Here's the bare-bones way I cooked the dish this weekend:

Cheese Broccoli and Rice Bake

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice (I used Minute rice because I'm horrifically lazy)

1 large head broccoli, stemmed and cut into florets

1.5 cups shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese

Procedure:

0. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

1. Cook the rice as directed on the package, and steam the broccoli for about 5 minutes in a steamer basket, or until bright green.

2. Spray an 8"x8" baking dish with cooking spray, and layer rice, broccoli and cheese, then repeat the layers.

3. Grind some pepper on top, and place in the oven for 20 minutes until bubbly.

Serve this as a main dish with a big salad, or as a side dish to accompany a more traditional home style meal!

Lasagna Roll Ups

Lasagna roll ups are made with the same ingredients as traditional lasagna, only the assembly is a little different. I think they're a fun way to change up a dish, without going through the labor pains of experimenting with something that is not broken to begin with. I will caution you that these are a little bit more messy than traditional lasagna, but are worth a try if you want to pep up an old recipe!

I made this particular dish with broccoli and olives--not typically what you'd find in lasagna, but still pretty tasty! I recommend using fresh spinach, sauteed with a little garlic, and mushrooms for a first try. The broccoli's odd shape made these roll ups even more messy (and frustrating for Tony), but the combination of broccoli and olives was delicious!

Lasagna Roll Ups

Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 whole wheat lasagna noodles

1 large crown of broccoli, cut up into bite sized florets

1 small can of sliced black olives

3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1 cup marinara sauce (your favorite kind)

Procedure:

0. Preheat oven to 350 F.

1. Boil lasagna noodles until al dente, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water, then coat with a little olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking to one another.

2. While the noodles are boiling, steam the broccoli in a steamer basket until bright green and slightly tender. Drain and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine olives, broccoli, cottage cheese and parmesan. *If you would like, you can also add 1/4 cup of the marinara sauce to this mixture*

4. Lay out a lasagna in the palm of your hand. Fill the middle with a heaping spoonful of the mixture, then form into a roll, and put the seam side down in a greased 8"x8" glass baking dish.

5. Add any of the leftover filling mixture to the top of the rolls. Cover evenly with the marinara sauce, and top with extra cottage or parmesan cheese as desired.

6. Bake at 350F for about 25-35 minutes, or until bubbly and the cheese on top is melted.

Spaghetti with Pine Nuts and Brussels Sprouts

Okay, I'm going to have to ask you to hear me out on this one. I know that the title doesn't sound all that appealing, but trust me---this recipe is really tasty!

Earlier in February Tony and I received a package from Tony's parents, which was full of all kinds of new items for me to try and cook with. One of the items in the box was a bag of pine nuts. Truthfully, I don't know much about pine nuts and how they are commonly used in cooking. One of the top hits I found during a http://tastespotting.com search was pesto, which I will eventually make when I can remember to buy some fresh basil at the grocery store. I'm slightly resistant to buying fresh herbs, because for the most part they end up spoiling before I can use them up.

At any rate, I stumbled across this recipe on a blog, which was originally published in Gourmet magazine as "Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts and Pine Nuts." Although I'm sure fettuccine is a commonly sold pasta at the grocery store (duh), I definitely didn't have any on hand. I did substitute one pasta for another, and swapped in spaghetti instead. I think it made the recipe a little less fancy, but I'm definitely not going for a "fancy" vibe around here.

This recipe is fast, fills you up, and gets your momma off of your back about eating your Brussels sprouts...

Spaghetti with Pine Nuts and Brussels Sprouts

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed
4 0z (or enough for about 2 servings) of whole wheat pasta (spaghetti or fettuccine are best)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs unsalted butter
3 Tbs pine nuts
seasoned pepper and salt to taste
1 tsp Italian herbs
grated parmesan cheese for serving

Procedure:

1. Cook pasta as directed until al dente, drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the liquid for later use.

2. While pasta is cooking quarter the Brussels sprouts, or slice them in a food processor if you're in a rush.

3. In a medium sized skillet, heat olive oil, butter and garlic over medium-high heat until the garlic is sizzling and fragrant.

4. Cook the pine nuts in the skillet, constantly stirring until they are golden (about 1-2 minutes). Add the Brussels sprouts, salt, seasoned pepper, and Italian herb blend and saute until the sprouts are a lightly browned, vibrant color, and are tender (about 4 minutes).

5. Add the 1/2 cup of reserved pasta liquid to the skillet to moisten. Spoon over the pasta on your serving dish, and grate or sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Be proud of yourself for eating your Brussels sprouts!

Meal o' Love 2: Eggplant Parmesan

If someone would have told me two years ago that Tony's favorite home-cooked meal (of mine, at least), was eggplant parmesan, I would have scoffed, snorted and downright laughed. Tony is a "red meat and 'taters" kind of guy, although he doesn't complain whenever I try and sneak in a vegetarian meal here and there. The only exception to this rule occurs when the vegetarian meal contains tofu, at which point Tony graciously eats everything except the tofu, and then goes to Subway.

Anyway, for the birthday/Valentine's day dinner I cooked for the hubatron, I pulled out the stops and made this recipe of eggplant parmesan. It's gooey, delicious, and smothered with nummy calories. And, boy, was it worth it. We were about 4 glasses of wine into the evening by the time we ate this dinner, and it tasted better than ever :).

I hope y'all like it as much as we do!

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant
salt and pepper
2 eggs, yolks broken and incorporated
1-2 cups Italian bread crumbs
1/4-1/2 cup of canola oil
1 bottle of favorite marinara sauce
1/3 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/4 lb parmesan cheese, grated and divided
1/2 Tbs basil, divided


Procedure:

1. Peel the eggplant and cut into 1/2" thick slices. Make a mixture of salt and pepper and dip each slice into the mixture. Stack the slices on a plate, cover with another plate and weight down the top plate with a full can of whatever you have in your pantry. You need to apply pressure on the eggplant for about 30 minutes in order for a bitter, purple liquid to come out. Place the weighted stack in the fridge for 30 minutes. Drain and discard the dark liquid on the bottom of the plate.

2. Heat about half of the canola oil in the iron skillet (use as much as you need depending on the size of the skillet--remember, you're frying here!) on medium-high heat. Preheat the oven to 350F.

3. Coat the eggplant slices in egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Warning: this is a bit messy. Wait until the oil is hot (you can test this by sprinkling a few breadcrumbs in the oil to see if they sizzle), and then place the coated eggplant slices in the skillet. Wait until the bottom is a light brown, then carefully flip using tongs or a fork. Both sides should be a light (or dark, if you're like me and you like it crispy!) brown.

4. Coat a 9"x13" glass pan with cooking spray. Coat the bottom of the dish first with a thin layer of marinara sauce.

5. Layer the eggplant, thin slices of mozzarella, grated parmesan and a light sprinkling of basil. Coat the top with another layer of pasta sauce. Repeat until all the eggplant is used. Finish by layering on mozzarella and a healthy amount of parmesan.

6. Bake uncovered for about 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is gooey and the sauce is bubbling.

7. Enjoy all that hard work!