Pesto Portobello Mushroom Burgers

Because good ideas (and good food!) are meant to be shared!

This month's recipe contest theme is "Healthy Sandwiches, Salads, and Snacks."  I already submitted the dill chickpea salad sammies, my cheddar jalapeno BBBs and that oh-so-elegant balsamic apples and arugula salad, but I had more ideas to throw out there!  Unfortunately, while the ideas are plentiful, the free time to do all of the recipe testing is lacking.  But, thanks to a spontaneous trip home, a few willing taste-testers, and the help of my lovely sister, I was finally able to present these babies to my sister and a couple of friends over the weekend and boy, were they a hit!  I can't say that the prep and cooking went exactly as planned, but I am in love with the way these 'shrooms turned out!

Probably these burgers would be amazing cooked on the grill but, well, I don't have a grill.  Or even know how to grill, for that matter.  So, whatever, the stove top worked just fine thankyouverymuch.  I think the flavors of the marinade could be changed up a bit, according to your tastes (more heat, less smoke, etc).  It is also entirely possible that I may have forgotten to write down some of the measurements because I was drinking vodka socializing while preparing the food.  So the following ingredients are a best guess.  But I'm pretty sure it's right.  Almost positive.  It's all about confidence, right???

Let's be honest, you don't have to top the burgers with pesto.  In fact, I'm sure they would be brilliant smothered in BBQ sauce and topped with veggie cheese.  But the truth is, you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't at least try the pesto.  Fresh basil is one of the most amazing foods in the world.  Seriously.  Take advantage of the summer flavors and enjoy!

Ingredients:
Marinade:
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tsp liquid smoke
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
Salt and pepper

6 portobello mushrooms, stems removed and gills scraped out with a spoon

Pesto:
2 cups fresh basil
3 tsp chopped garlic
3 Tbsp pine nuts
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

12 slices of hearty bread (or 6 burger buns)
Additional toppings: mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, as desired


Directions:
In a medium sized bowl, combine broth, liquid smoke, balsamic vinegar, cumin, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Stir to mix well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish (it's OK if they overlap) and pour the marinade over them.  Swish the liquid around to wet all of the mushrooms and let sit for 10 min, flipping the mushrooms over after 10 min. 
While the mushrooms are marinating, prepare the pesto.  In a food processor, combine the basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and red wine vinegar.  Pulse the ingredients until pine nuts are finely chopped.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray and heat on medium.  Add two mushrooms, pouring 1 Tbsp marinade over each mushroom, and cook 3-5 min on each side, until heated through.  Repeat with remaining mushrooms.
Top each mushroom with pesto and any additional toppings, as desired.

Dilly Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Because it's picnic time!!!

 I love going on picnics.  There's something so magical about sitting outside, eating sandwiches and drinking wine with someone you're sweet on.  [As long is it isn't too hot, too cold, too buggy, too humid, too windy, too rainy, too early, too late, or marred by any other inconvenience that may be accompanied by "enjoying the great outdoors".]  Lucky for me, I've found a new picnic partner (and the weather was perfect!), so we set off for an evening of sandwiches, salad, cabernet, and good conversation by the lake.

I insisted on offered to make the meal, since I'm a total control freak I had a few good picnic ideas rolling around in the ol' noggin.  Of course my go-to sandwich is chickpea salad.  I changed it up a bit to taste more like a chickpea melt I've had at a restaurant in Grand Rapids that is absolutely to die for (the sandwich and the restaurant, actually).  This meant no pickle relish, fresh herbs, a bit more mayo [Side note: have you ever noticed that most summer salads are made with mayo?  Potato salad, egg salad, tuna salad... other salads.  I'm gonna have to come up with an alternative at some point.  One can only consume so much mayo before jeopardizing one's "girlish figure."].  But really it's very simple and absolutely delicious.  I was also going to post the quinoa salad I made, but, to be honest, it was only OK.  I may tweak the recipe later this summer and share it after I get the flavors and measurements right.  So for now, try out this creamy, dilly sandwich and I promise you'll fall in love.

Ingredients:
15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill weed
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (I used Vegenaise original...though I could have gone with the low-fat)
3 Tbsp honey mustard
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper
12 slices multi-grain bread
Romaine lettuce

Directions:
In a large bowl, mash the chickpeas with a potato masher or a fork until all beans are broken up. Add onion, celery, and dill.  Stir in the mayo, mustard, and vinegar, and mix well.  Sprinkle with paprika and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
*Divide the chickpea salad among six slices of bread.  Top with a leaf of Romaine and another slice of bread.
Serves 6.  (Or two hungry people with leftovers for the week.)

*Let's get serious, I know y'all know how to assemble a friggin' sandwich.  But I also posted this recipe to a contest, and sometimes readers just want you to spell everything out for them.  It's whatever.

Oh yeah, and here are some bonus pics of my picnic view.  I love love love Lake Michigan.

Deanna's Lentil Vegetable Soup

Because it's OK to be a copy-cat sometimes.

You know how some people have a favorite restaurant that serves their favorite dish, and those people will always choose that beloved restaurant when given the option because they know they get to order that killer meal, and they look forward to it all day, and after they eat it they feel all warm and happy inside and know that their lives are now complete?  Yeah?  Well, I have a favorite canned soup that makes me feel that way.  I know, it's weird. But just work with me here.

When I don't have time to cook and I don't have any left-overs in the fridge, and I need something quick to grab for lunch, my favorite thing is Amy's Kitchen soup.  [Does this sound like an endorsement to you? Maybe I should write to them and ask for commission...]  Particularly the lentil vegetable soup.  I don't know what it is about that soup but I am completely in love.  However, at $2.50 a can, and more sodium than I ought to be consuming in one meal (I can eat the whole can in one sitting... and almost always do), I got to thinking that I could probably figure out how to make this soup myself.  So I set to work last week and came up with this.  It's not exactly the same, but it's awfully close and it's still delicious and filling and comforting and super duper simple to make.  That's not to say that I'll never buy the canned stuff again (let's get serious, with my lack of time management skills, I'll find myself starving for soup with not enough time to cook again at some point in my life... probably next week), but  this is a fantastic alternative.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup green lentils
3 1/2 cups water
2 bay leaves
15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 lb frozen mixed vegetables
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp molasses
A few drops of liquid smoke, optional
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a pressure cooker on medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and saute for about 5 min or until onions are soft.  Add the lentils, water, and bay leaves and fasten the pressure cooker lid.  Turn heat up to high to bring the pot up to pressure.  Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 10 min.  Remove pressure cooker from heat and release the pressure (do this according to the directions for your own device).  Remove lid and return pan to medium high heat.  Add the tomatoes, veg broth, cumin, oregano, and  poultry seasoning, and stir to mix well.  Add in the veggies, balsamic vinegar, molasses, and liquid smoke (if using) and stir it all up.  Cook for another 7-10 min until veggies are cooked through.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

Garlicky Black Bean Tostadas with Roasted Eggplant

Because it's contest time again!

I had taken a break from entering recipe contests for a while, for a variety of reasons.  For one, the contest themes either didn't apply to me or didn't appeal to me (I don't own a grill, so Grilling Recipes is right out.  I'm not even going to pretend like I want to create a Chicken Recipe.  I don't have a single Slow-Cooker Recipe in my repertoire.  In fact, I'm not sure where my slow cooker is...)  Also, I haven't really felt very inspired lately.  To be honest, I've been eating an awful lot of veggie wraps and canned soup these past couple of weeks.  However, I could use a little boost in my income, and I have more free time for cooking these days, since homework isn't monopolizing my evening hours anymore.  Thus, I decided to get myself back in the kitchen and back to recipe testing.  This month's contest theme is Mexican.  Oh yeah, I got this.

I actually cheated with this recipe: I used components from other recipes I've made in the past (garlic-lime black beans from just a few weeks ago, and a fire-roasted tomato and chipotle sauce that was never actually posted to the blog but comes from an old contest submission), adding the eggplant just to change it up a bit.  The end result was savory, smokey, spicy, and- hopefully- good enough to win.  We shall see.  In the meantime, I have some recipe "fixing" to do.  I had also experimented with a butternut squash soup, but accidentally made it melt-your-face-off hot.  So I'm gonna try to tweak that this week.  Stay tuned.

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized eggplant
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 stalks green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced, 2 Tbsp reserved for garnish
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chile powder
14.5 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
4 corn tostadas
Sour cream, optional


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Trim the stem end and bottom of the eggplant and then cut in half lengthwise.  Using a sharp knife, score the eggplant with diagonal lines, about an inch apart, to create a diamond pattern.  Drizzle each half with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place on baking sheet cut-side down.  Bake for 35 min, or until skin is wrinkled and flesh is soft.  Allow to cool just enough to handle.  Cut each half into one inch slices. 
In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and green onion (reserving 2 Tbsp) and saute about 3-5 min until garlic is starting to brown but not burn.  Add the black beans and stir to cover with oil, lightly mashing the beans with the back of a spoon or spatula.  Add the lime juice, cumin, and chile powder and stir to mix well.  Continue to cook over medium heat 5 min or so, until beans are heated through.  be careful not to over cook, or the beans will dry out.  In that case, add a little more lime juice as needed.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, simmer fire roasted tomatoes and chipotle chilies over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until heated through.
To assemble:  Spread black bean mixture over each tostada.  Top with eggplant slices and spoon tomato sauce over top.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream and reserved green onions, if desired.
Serves 4

Sweet Roasted Beets with Creamy Pasta

Because pasta is always the answer!!!

Woah, there has been an awful lot of celebrating going on over here!  I graduated and had a party; my dad (and his twin) turned 60 last week and we had a party; my sister moved out of our old house and into a beautiful new condo and... well, I guess we didn't technically celebrate, but there were several mimosas consumed over the course of the weekend.  Anyhow, my point is that I've been awfully busy and haven't had a chance to do any recipe testing until today.

With the advent of my newly acquired post-graduation freedom, I have made it my mission to teach myself new things.  First things first, I ordered a bunch of history books, in an effort to learn more about, well, history (let's get serious, I haven't studied that stuff since, maybe, middle school?).  OK, so I haven't actually started reading any of them yet, but I'll get there, I promise.  I also realized that I'm at a point in my life that it is no longer acceptable to say "I can't" or "I don't know how" or "I don't like that."  So, obviously, the first place to start was making myself like foods that I have been convinced I completely despise.  Because I like the challenge.

Beets are a remarkable little root vegetable, don't you think?  On the one hand, they possess an exquisite color and are super good for you- full of folate and manganese, and can help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke [this sounds like a pharmaceutical commercial...].  However they also smell and taste like dirt, making them highly unappealing to most sane persons.  Well my friends, today was the day I decided to cook beets in a way that made them both appealing and palatable.  Hence the pasta.  I mean, who doesn't love pasta???  This makes those pesky little beets totally worth trying at least, am I right?  [Just say yes so we can move on...]

Alright, let's get down to business: roasting makes everything better, this is a fact.  I roasted these babies with sweet onions and garlic, and plopped them atop a mountain of creamy pasta goodness and it was fricken' awesome.  Just try it.  Once.  To better yourself as a person.

Ingredients:
4 small beets, peeled and cubed
8 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked
1/3 cup white wine (I used pinot grigio)
3 cups vegetable broth
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
12 oz pasta
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss beets, garlic, and onions in a baking dish with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 30-35 min, stirring once, until beets are tender.
In a blender or food processor, combine cashews, wine, veg broth, cornstarch, garlic, and thyme, and blend until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Pour sauce into a sauce pan and heat on high until bubbling, then turn heat down to a simmer, stirring constantly.
Meanwhile, heat a large pot of water to cook the pasta.  Cook according to directions on the package.  Drain and return to the pan.  Add the sauce and stir until all the pasta is covered.
Serve the pasta hot with a big heaping helping of the beet/onion/garlic goodness. 
Savor the deliciousness of roasted beets on pasta.  So good.

Garlic and Lime Black Beans

Because it's time to celebrate!!!

After two and a half years, 84 credit hours, the seemingly never-ending homework, papers, and group projects, behavior change projects, blood, sweat, and tears, mental meltdowns and an overall GPA of 3.91, I'm finally graduating from college!  The past three years have been a trip, I'll say that.  I left my previous career to study something completely different and take on a whole new lifestyle.  Besides changing my major after just my first semester, I have been met with challenges all over the damn place: relationship break-ups, three apartments, eight jobs, various illnesses, including a kidney stone, living way, way, way below the poverty line, and other bummer things that I won't dwell on.  But honestly, I wouldn't change it for anything.  Now, that's not to say that I'll jump at the chance to go back for my Master's any time soon, but I'm glad I can finally say I have a degree.  And guess what?  I already have a job!!!  Yee-haw!

So yeah, I'm pretty pumped.  My folks and my sister are coming down for the ceremony, and then Sunday we're going to have a family celebration dinner consisting of tacos and cake.  No, that's not gross, that's a fabulous combination.  Tacos are just so easy when you're feeding a crowd!  My mom and sister are taking care of most of the fixin's, but I'll be making fajita veggies and this tempeh and pecan taco filling.

I was going to stop at that, but I made something last night that turned out spectacular.  The roomie and I were celebrating several things- my last day of class officially over and the new job, as well as the interview she had yesterday.  I made tostadas, but the recipe I'm about to post (if I ever stop blabbing) is just for the black beans I made to put on them.  I also topped our tostadas with crumbled vegan chorizo, Daiya cheddar cheese, peppers, salsa, and sour cream.  Not gonna lie, these were awesome.  But anyways, the beans.  The beans were pretty stellar themselves.  They would be quite lovely in a wrap, taco, or burrito.  However they didn't look all that lovely when I tried to get a picture, so you get a snapshot of my assembled tostada instead.  Be very, very jealous.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 stalks green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced, 2 Tbsp reserved for garnish
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chile powder

Directions:
In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and green onion (reserving 2 Tbsp) and saute about 3-5 min until garlic is starting to brown but not burn.  Add the black beans and stir to cover with oil, lightly mashing the beans with the back of a spoon or spatula.  Add the lime juice, cumin, and chile powder and stir to mix well.  Continue to cook over medium heat 5 min or so, until beans are heated through.  be careful not to over cook, or the beans will dry out.  In that case, add a little more lime juice as needed.

Asian Noodles with Bok Choy, Shiitake, and Tofu

Because it's OK to change your mind at the last minute.

I have been in quite the creative slump for the past two weeks.  I had spent about a week and a half house-sitting for a friend, and while he has a beautiful house with a fantastic kitchen, I never really felt inspired to cook anything new.  I mean, I did cook twice, but not anything worth blogging about.  I just haven't had any good ideas.  I blame it on school.  My brain is fried.  I've checked out.  I'm less than two weeks away from graduating and I can't wait.
Moving on... 

This dish- or rather, the original idea for this dish- was actually inspired by my culinary tourism class.  We're nearing the end of the semester, and our last unit covered tourism in Asia.  We watched several videos on Korea, Laos, Singapore, Shanghai, and Malaysia.  In these videos, there were so many beautiful looking noodle dishes, with broth and fresh veggies, that I was dying to whip something like that up myself.  I bought all the groceries I needed on Sunday, but by 9:30 last night I still hadn't cooked anything and was in desperate need for food.  So my idea for a long-simmering broth with noodles and vegetables, served with breaded and baked tofu turned into something quicker and easier.  And boy is it delicious!

Instead of a soup, this is more like a noodley stir-fry.  The sauce has a kick, which I enjoy, but if you don't like a lot of heat, I would skip the red pepper flakes.  Also, this makes a ton of food, so share it with friends!  Or strangers, whatever.

I'm feeling pretty pumped that my recipe creativity is slowly coming back.  Now to figure out what to make for Easter...

Ingredients:
14 oz extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into cubes
3 tsp sesame oil, divided
14 oz stir-fry rice noodles
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 stems green onion, thinly sliced
1 large bunch bok choy, trimmed, stalks chopped and leaves roughly chopped or torn
2 cups veg broth
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp molasses
2 tsp chili garlic paste
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp Chinese five spice
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:
In a large saute pan, heat 2 tsp of the sesame oil over medium-high heat.  Add the cubed tofu in one layer and cook on each side until lightly browned.  This might take up to 10 minutes.  It did for me, anyway.  Take the tofu out of the pan and put it on a plate, or in a bowl, or whatever.  Just let it hang out for a sec.
Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the rice noodles as directed on the package.  In the meantime, get that pan back on the stove and add one more tsp of sesame oil.  Toss in the mushrooms, bok choy stems, and green onion, and saute for about 7 min.  Stir occasionally, and while that's cooking, make the sauce.
In a large bowl, whisk together the veg broth, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, molasses, chili paste, cornstarch, Chinese five spice, and red pepper flakes (if using).  Toss the tofu back into the pan with the veggies and add the bok choy leaves.  Pour in the sauce and turn the heat up a bit so that it starts bubbling.  Once the sauce starts to thicken, turn the heat back to medium.
At this point, the noodles should be done.  Drain and return them to the pot.  Pour in the sauce and veggies and stir to coat all noodles.  Serve hot.