Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Tomato Reduction

This is a healthy, easy, scrumptious recipe.  Due to the juicy, filling nature of these portobellos, you won’t miss the meat one bit.  I served this over jasmine rice as a nice dinner, but it would work equally well as an appetizer.  This recipe would work equally well with just about any cheeses or by adding some herbs to the reduction.  It’s so great when a dish is packed with flavor and nutrients but low in sodium and fat.

Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Tomato Reduction

4 large portobello caps, cleaned and rinsed

1 tsp. garlic powder

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

3 cups homemade pork, beef, chicken or vegetable stock (I used a combination of pork/beef and chicken because that’s what I had on hand, but this is a lacto-ovo-vegetarian dish if you use vegetable stock)

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup shredded gouda, divided

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

1 Hungarian hot pepper, diced

1-2 tbs. Brummel & Brown butter substitute

Non-stick cooking spray

Season portobello caps on both sides with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Marinate a minimum of 2-3 hours in stock.

Preheat oven to 350º.   Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Place portobellos “gill side” up in casserole dish, reserving marinade.  Top with one half of each type of cheese and then tomato slices.  Dice remaining tomato slices and set aside.  Add about 1 cup of stock to casserole dish and roast, uncovered, in oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat Brummel & Brown until melted.  Add diced pepper and sauté until golden brown.  Add diced tomatoes and reserved stock and simmer, uncovered, until most of liquid has been absorbed.

After 30 minutes of roasting portobellos, add remainder of cheese to the top of tomato slices and transfer to broiler.  Broil approximately five minutes until cheese is melted, bubbly, and golden brown.  Serve, either alone or over rice, topped with tomato and pepper reduction.

Garlic Hummus

Zak has been talking about making hummus for weeks now.  We finally remembered to buy some tahini sauce, so as soon as we got home from the store he whipped up a batch of this excellent hummus.  It’s so delicious and fresh tasting with just a hint of heat and the perfect amount of garlic.  I can’t wait to pack some for lunch tomorrow.

Garlic Hummus

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Serves 2-3 as an appetizer

3 cloves spicy marinated garlic

1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, half the liquid reserved, reserving a few for garnish

1 lemon, juiced

2 1/2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little more for garnish

1 tsp. garlic hot sauce

Dried parsley, for garlic

In a food processor, chop the garlic until finely chopped.  Pour garbanzo beans into blender, reserving about a tablespoon for garnish.  Place tahini, chopped garlic and salt in blender.  Slowly add lemon juice, olive oil and liquid reserved from can of garbanzo beans while running food processor.  Blend until creamy and well mixed.

Transfer the mixture to a medium serving bowl.  Sprinkle with pepper and pour olive oil over the top.  Garnish with reserved garbanzo beans.  Allow to sit for a minimum of one hour so the flavors can meld together.  Naturally, sneak a few little spoonfuls … but it’s definitely worth the wait before diving in.  Serve with pita bread or raw veggies of choice.

Mushroom and Balsamic Chicken with Arancini

As much as I love risotto the day of, I absolutely abhor it the day after.  No matter how I try to heat it up (stove top, microwave, oven), it ends up gummy and lackluster.  So, when I heard about arancini, or fried risotto, I was very curious to try it out.  While most of the recipes I came across called for deep fried balls of risotto, I decided to make patties and pan fry them.  I hate to use all of the oil and there’s something about deep frying that makes me recoil.  The end result here was the perfect way to use up leftover risotto, and something I will certainly be repeating.  The outside was crispy, the risotto was creamy, and the enclosed mozzarella was the perfect molten-y goodness.  These were incredibly easy, although ridiculously messy, to make, and would make a perfect appetizer.

The chicken was also moist and tasty.  I love balsamic and it perfectly complemented the umami of the mushrooms while not overwhelming the flavor of the chicken or zucchini.  Paired together with the arancini, this dish was a real winner.

Mushroom and Balsamic Chicken with Arancini

Serves 2

Mushroom and Balsamic Chicken:

3 medium sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 cup button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup yellow squash, thinly sliced

1 tbs. olive oil

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried marjoram

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbs. butter

1 cup homemade chicken stock

Season chicken breasts on both sides with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.  In a medium sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken breasts and sauté until lightly golden brown on each side (roughly 4 minutes per side).  Add mushrooms, yellow squash, thyme and marjoram to pan.  Continue to sauté until mushrooms are slightly browned and squash is tender.  Add balsamic and chicken stock.  Cover tightly with lid and reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove cover and remove chicken breasts.  Cover with foil.  Increase heat to medium-high and reduce balsamic/chicken stock mixture by half.  Add tablespoon of butter.  Serve by spooning vegetables and sauce over chicken.

Arancini (Fried Risotto):

1 1/2 cup leftover creamy risotto

1/2 cup jasmine rice, cooked (or an extra 1/2 cup leftover creamy risotto)

2 eggs, beaten, divided

1 oz. mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

2 tbs. canola oil

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

In a medium bowl, combine risotto, jasmine rice and 1 egg, beaten.  Mix together thoroughly.  Form into patties roughly 3 inches across and 1 inch thick.  Insert cube or two of mozzarella into center of patty.

Place flour in a shallow dish.  Place remaining beaten egg in a second shallow dish.  Place breadcrumbs in a third shallow dish.  Coat each patty with flour, followed by egg, followed by bread crumbs.

Heat canola oil in a large sauté pan until shimmering.  Pan fry risotto patties until deep golden brown and mozzarella is melted, roughly 4-5 minutes per side.

Chilled Avocado Corn Soup with Zucchini “Latkes”

I’m a shiksa (non-Jewish woman, for you other gentiles out there), Zak is Jewish.  Meaning he was raised on latkes.  His grandmother made them, his mother makes them, and he made sure to let me know that the first time I suggested making latkes.  I think his close-to-exact words were, “Just so you know, you have a lot to live up to.  My grandma and mom both make killer latkes.  I’m not saying you can’t do it, but just … be aware.”  Talk about a lot of pressure!

So, I decided to mix it up from the traditional latkes to give myself something of an edge.  My mom had found a zucchini latke recipe to use up some of the copious zucchini from their garden, so I did some Googling of my own and adapted my own version from this recipe at Food Network.  They turned out absolutely delicious.  Zak had no complaints, which made me very happy.  The latkes would make a delicious appetizer, too.

Pairing these with the soup was a good idea.  The soup ended up VERY spicy, so the creaminess of the latkes and sour cream really helped cool it down.  All in all, this was a fresh, summery, yummy and very healthy meal.  Admittedly, it was a lot of work, but I had my favorite kitchen helper, Roo, to keep me company¹.

Chilled Avocado Corn Soup with Zucchini “Latkes”

Chilled Avocado Corn Soup:

Adapted from Gourmet, 2005

Serves 2

3 ears of corn, shucked

1 jalapeño

1 cubanelle

1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped and divided

2 cups of chicken stock, frozen

2 cups water

1-2 tsp. lemon zest

Juice from 1 lemon

3 garlic cloves, smashed

1 ripe avocado

Cooking spray

Sour cream for serving

2-3 tbs. chopped cilantro, for serving

Preheat broiler and cover baking sheet with tinfoil.  Spray with cooking spray and place shucked corn, jalapeño and cubanelle on baking sheet.  Spray with cooking spray and place in broiler.  Broil, turning occasionally, roughly 15 minutes until the skins of peppers are charred and blistered.  Remove the peppers from the baking sheet and place immediately in a plastic zip lock bag (the steam will make peeling the peppers much easier).  Return corn to the broiler and broil additional 15 minutes until corn is browned and charred.  Let corn and peppers cool.

Remove peppers from plastic bag and peel off outer layer of skins.  Discard.  Remove most of ribs and seeds from the peppers, depending on how spicy you would like your soup (I left about 1/4 of the seeds and it was SUPER spicy).  Cut kernels off of the corn, reserving 1/2 cup of kernels for serving.  Cut the corn cobs into thirds.

Bring corn kernels, cobs, 1/2 of chopped Vidalia onion (reserving the other half for serving), chicken stock, and water to a boil, covered.  Reduce heat to a low simmer, remove cover and simmer until reduced by 1/3.

Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature uncovered.  Remove corn cobs and discard (or save for additional stock making).  In a food processor, puree mixture with peppers, lemon zest, juice from 1 lemon, and about 3/4 of the avocado (roughly 1/2 cup).  Reserve the rest of the avocado in slices for serving.

Cool pureed mixture in the refrigerator until serving time.

Serve with reserved onion, corn, sour cream and cilantro.

Zucchini “Latkes”:

Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Serves 2-3

3 cups zucchini, grated

1 medium white potato, grated

1/2 small Vidalia onion, chopped

2 eggs

2-3 tbs. flour

2-3 tbs. seasoned bread crumbs

Garlic salt to taste

Pepper to taste

3 tbs. vegetable oil

Sour cream, for serving

Mix zucchini, potato, and onion.  Squeeze out extra moisture using cheese cloth or paper towels.  Whisk together eggs and add to vegetable/potato mixture.  Mix in flour, bread crumbs, pepper and garlic salt.  Mix together well with your hands.

Heat a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan.  Form zucchini, potato, egg and flour mixture into patties roughly 2 inches across and 3 inches long.  Sauté roughly 5 minutes per side until golden brown, adding vegetable oil as necessary.  Serve warm with sour cream.

Ricotta, Asiago and Goat Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes

While this recipe would make a great starter for a lengthier meal or dinner party, Zak and I ate them for dinner alongside a boiled artichoke with some butter.  I loved the creamy cheese set against the crispy panko and the slight acidity of the tomato paired with the rich cheese and smoky ham.  The fresh basil really set off the flavors.  Next time, I’ll add a few tablespoons of lemon juice and a few teaspoons of lemon zest to the cheese filling – I have a feeling it will really make this dish shine.  I’ll post a note when I try it out, which I’m sure will be soon enough.  It’s quickly approaching tomato season here in Ohio and it’s hard to use them up as fast as my wonderful parents can grow them.

Ricotta, Asiago and Goat Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes

Adapted from For the Love of Cooking.net

Serves 2

2 large tomatoes, cut in half with pulp and seeds removed

1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves, minced

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 slice low sodium Boar’s Head ham, chopped (roughly 1/4 cup chopped)

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup asiago fresco, shredded

1/4 cup goat cheese

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup Japanese-style panko bread crumbs

Olive oil flavored cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400º.

Season cleaned tomato halves with salt and pepper to taste.  Combine all other ingredients, except panko bread crumbs, including more salt and pepper to taste, in a large mixing bowl.  Mix thoroughly with your hands or a spatula.  Fill each tomato shell with enough to be level.

Place panko in small bowl or on a plate.  Dip each tomato in the panko until cheese is almost totally covered.

Spray a glass casserole dish large enough to contain tomatoes with cooking spray.  Place tomatoes, preferably not touching one another, in the dish.  Spray panko-crusted tops with cooking spray.  Place in oven and bake 25-35 minutes until topping is light golden brown and cheese is hot and melted.  Let the tomatoes rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.