Portobello Burger

This healthy and delicious vegetarian meal is satisfying...don't let the portobellos scare any of you meat-lovers away!  My hubby loves a good burger, he was savoring every bite. I made homemade hamburger buns which made them even tastier. 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, minced 

6 T olive oil 

1/2 t dried thyme 

2 T balsamic vinegar 

salt and pepper to taste 

4 large portobello mushroom caps 

4 whole wheat hamburger buns 

1/4 cup low-fat mayonaisse 

1 T capers, drained

tomato, spinach and avocado to top

Directions:

In medium bowl, mix garlic, olive oil, thyme, vinegar, salt & pepper.

Remove stems from mushrooms and place caps bottom side up in a shallow baking dish. Brush the caps with half of the sauce. Broil caps under the broiler for 5 minutes.

Turn the caps, brush with remaining sauce. Broil 4 minutes.

Toast hamburger buns lightly.

In small bowl mix capers and mayonaisse together. Spread mayo mixture on the buns, top with mushroom caps, tomato, spinach and avocado.

Ancho Chile Mushroom Enchiladas

If you have access to ancho chiles (we find ours at the local Mexican market), you have to have to have to try this dish. I got my inspiration from the ancho chile enchiladas at Z Tejas, one of my favorite restaurants. They are so delicious and pretty easy to make. You can make the sauce ahead of time too, and freeze any extra for future uses. I make these enchiladas about once a week (and don't get sick of them), they make for excellent leftovers. Anth takes the leftovers to school the following days (where his fellow classmates drool over them).

serves about 5 or 6
Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 2 dried ancho chiles
• 4 large garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1-2 T. mole sauce (optional)
  
• 4 teaspoons fresh lime juice

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 12 ounces fresh wild mushrooms (such as oyster and/or stemmed and sliced shiitake and portobello)
• 5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (you could also use queso fresco)
  
• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded, chopped
• 1 small avocado, pitted, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

• 8-12 6-inch-diameter corn tortillas

Preparation:

Bring 2 cups water to boil in small saucepan. Remove saucepan from heat, add chilies and soak 30 minutes. Drain chilies, reserving 6 tablespoons soaking liquid. Cut stems off chilies. Cut chilies open. Scrape out seeds and discard. Combine chilies, 6 tablespoons reserved soaking liquid and garlic in blender and puree until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine whipping cream, sour cream, & chili puree in heavy large skillet. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 3 minutes. Whisk in lime juice and mole sauce (optional). Season with salt. (Sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Melt butter in another heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and mushrooms and sauté until onion is translucent and mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Add cheese, cilantro, tomatoes and 3 tablespoons of the cream sauce. Simmer until just heated through, about 4 minutes. Stir in avocado. Season filling with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Dip tortillas individually into warm sauce & transfer to baking dish. Spoon generous 1/3 cup filling down center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas, enclosing filling completely. Arrange seam side down in baking dish. Cover enchiladas with foil.

Bake enchiladas until heated through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to plates. Spoon some sauce atop each. Serve, passing any remaining sauce separately.

Notes: The corn tortillas crumble really easily. Since we eat them with a fork anyway and don't really care about presentation, it's not a problem. But, if you are worried about presentation, it might help to fry the tortillas briefly in some hot oil before dipping them in the sauce and filling them. It should help keep them from crumbling. I have tried microwaving them for 30 seconds, and although it helps they still seem to crumble. Another solution would be to use flour tortillas. They rarely crumble and taste heavenly too.

Lemon and Basil Marinated Cod

Anything marinated in these things has to be good right?! In Portugal, they eat Cod like it's nobody's business. They call it Bacalhau. After spending a year and a half there, I learned that there are literally thousands of ways to prepare it and it is a main staple of their healthy Mediterranean diet. Cod has a meatiness to it that most fish don't, which makes it an ideal fish for a winter meal. When Grant tasted this dish, he was surprised it was cod and said, "I would have told you not to buy cod, but I'm impressed." Another upside to buying cod is it is usually caught in the wild, therefore it is not farmed and does not have any added hormones or coloring, and if you get it at a reputable store, it usually hasn't been frozen. It's delicious.

For the Marinade:
4 cod fillets
A handful of fresh basil leaves (about 8), minced
the juice from 2 lemons
Leaves from one stem of rosemary, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger,
1 handful of fresh chives, minced
1/3 cup soy sauce
Kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

Stir all ingredients together (or use a food processor or Magic Bullet) and put the cod fillets in the marinade and let sit for 30 minutes in the fridge.

While they are marinating, Saute in large skillet
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks (white part only), minced
3 shallots, minced
1 yellow onion, minced
8 cloves of garlic minced
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

Until onions are transluscent. Add cod to pan. Turn the heat up and brown the fillets, then turn down the heat and let them simmer until cooked through. (up to 20 minutes, it will vary depending on the thickness of your fillets)

Spoon the Cod and the Sauce over Mashed Potatoes or Mashed Cauliflower (what we used) or Rice. Pour parmesan cheese over top and a dollop of sour cream. Garnish with a parsley sprig or whatever you have on hand. A half of a lemon would be nice to drizzle on top.

So healthy and so good, you'll think you're in the Mediterranean.

Ginger bread and "cement" frosting

This recipe can be made for cookies or cut into larger pieces to make a gingerbread house(s). The dough is easy to work with and doesn't crumble.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
  
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat sugar, molasses, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves to boiling, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove from heat; stir in soda (it will foam up).

3. Stir in margarine till melted.

4. With a fork, stir in egg, then flour.

5. On a floured surface, knead dough till mixed. Divide dough in half, wrap half with plastic wrap; set aside.

6. Roll half the dough, with a rolling pin, slightly thinner than 1/4 inch.

7. Cut with cutters.

8. Bake at 325F on a cookie sheet for 12 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

9. Makes about 3 dozen 3" gingerbread people.

10. NOTE: To make houses, cut out your house design (the 2 sides of the roof, 2 sides, a front and a back of the house) on paper, and then place the paper shapes on the dough and cut the dough shapes out with a knife.

Cement Frosting Recipe

3 egg whites
1 (16 oz.) bag powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Beat all ingredients with electric beater for 4 minutes.

Delicious Angel Hair Pasta

Ingredients:

1/2 pound angel hair pasta
1/4 c. olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
8 oz. mushrooms
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
2-3 fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
fresh basil leaves, cut into pieces
salt & pepper

Boil pasta according to package instructions. Drain pasta and place in serving bowl. While pasta is boiling, saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat until lightly browned. Add mushrooms and cook for about 4 minutes. Pour over warm pasta and toss. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss. Add half of the Parmesan cheese. Toss again. Let noodles cool slightly. Right before serving, add diced tomatoes and basil and rest of Parmesan cheese. Lightly toss and serve. This makes a great light dinner!