Easy Mushroom Rice Pilaf

Easy Mushroom Rice Pilaf

 

On the back of the Lundgren's short grain brown rice package, Brennan found a recipe for easy mushroom rice pilaf.  He cut it off the package and I tucked in away in my thick file of recipes-to-try.

 

When Thomas was gone last week to camp, it was a great time.  Thomas does not like mushrooms, so he wouldn't miss out.

 

Brennan and I picked out a box of fresh shiitakes to try with this recipe.  I've read that button mushrooms don't have the same nutritional properties that other mushrooms have, plus shiitakes are "meatier", and I like them the best.  You could use any mushrooms here.

 

So, my first attempt at this dish didn't work great.  The directions stated to put all the ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 50 minutes.  I think the mushrooms soaked up too much of the broth.  I kept adding more, and adding more, but it took much longer than 50 minutes.  The dish was still good, but let me share with you what I did to make it much faster the second time I made it.

 

I soaked the rice in a bowl, covered with a dishcloth, for 6 hours.  You could also do this overnight.  Then I drained the rice and followed the directions - much, much better.  The rice cooked well and I didn't have to add any extra broth.  It was delicious.

And with only a few ingredients that I usually have on hand - mushrooms, brown rice, fresh parsley, broth, garlic, olive oil, pepper - it is definitely an Easy recipe.

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Enjoy!

 

 

Mushroom Bisque

Mushroom Bisque

 

I had this soup at a Service League luncheon and it was so good.

I made it for Brennan, David, and me one night and while they didn't love it like I did, I think I could easily modify it and they'd really enjoy it.

 

You start by sauteing cremini (baby portobello) mushrooms and chopped onion in olive oil until the onions are translucent.  I would chop the onions more finely for David next time.

 

Then add vegetable broth and allow to simmer.

In the blender I added more vegetable broth, milk (I used almond but any kind is OK), seasonings, the remaining mushrooms, and walnuts that I had toasted in the oven for 10 minutes first.  I would puree this more finely for Brennan next time.

 

Then I added the blended vegetables and liquids to the cooked vegetables and let it simmer for awhile.  

Then I served it with salad and warm crusty bread.

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Enjoy!



Tofu Scramble

Tofu Scramble

I have seen Tofu Scramble recipes in many different places.  I decided to combine the recipes and try it out for the family recently.  We all liked it, and I think it's great in place of scrambled eggs if we're ever looking for something a little different.  It's easily customizable and really easy to make!

I started by cook frozen corn and sliced shiitake mushrooms in a little olive oil until the mushrooms were tender.  I added in lemon juice and turmeric, then crumbled in the drained tofu.

 

I let it cook for about 10 minutes until the liquids evaporated and everything was well combined.

 

Then I added in a bunch of chopped romaine and served it hot.

I let everyone season theirs with sea salt, pepper, and hot sauces.

Some added the Tofu Scramble to warm flour tortillas and rolled them up for a breakfast burrito style dish.  I ate mine with warm crusty bread.  It's also good plain.

We had some leftovers that I tried the next day for lunch but I wasn't as fond of it then.
Fresh and warm may be best for this dish.

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Enjoy!

L.A.-Style Chimichurri Tacos

L.A.-Style Chimichurri Tacos

200 recipes!

I'm excited to share my 200th recipe with you today on Y'all Come Eat.  And, I'm thrilled that it's a really good one that we'll return to often in our house.

This recipe comes from Vegetarian Times - they asked Cupcake Wars 2010 champion and chef Chloe Coscarelli to share a favorite recipe.

I found Chloe's recipes online and am looking forward to trying out a few more soon!

We really liked this vegan Mexican meal, and I think it's one that you can tweak for your own needs.

I'm modifying the original recipe below.

It calls for rice, so if you have some on hand, you can just reheat it and use it.

Otherwise, cook your favorite kind of rice to include in the tacos.

I started by making the Chimichurri sauce - which I absolutely love!

I plan to keep a batch of this on hand - it's one of my favorite sauces and can be used on meat, as a salsa, on beans, on anything.  It's sooo good!

The Chimichurri sauce calls for cilantro, parsley, olive oil, fresh lime juice, agave nectar (I just used honey), garlic cloves, salt, cumin and black pepper. 

It smells so good once you puree it in the food processor!

We found it was rather oily so I've reduced the amount of olive oil in the recipe card below.

Then I heated a little bit of olive oil in the skillet and added my cremini mushrooms for 10 minutes.

The original recipe calls for sliced mushrooms, but I chopped my sliced mushrooms.

I thought the texture would be better with the size of the black beans.

After 10 minutes of cooking in the olive oil, I added a can of rinsed and drained black beans, plus half of the chimicurri sauce and allowed it all to heat through.

Then we served the mushroom/black bean filling with rice, Fire-Roasted Tomato and Pineapple Salsa, chopped romaine, and the rest of the Chimichurri sauce with heated flour tortillas to make soft tacos.

These tacos were absolutely delicious!

For my non-mushroom lover, Thomas, I made a version without the mushrooms and he loved it - we're all big Chimichurri fans, apparently!

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Buen Provecho!

Cod with Sauteed Vegetables

Cod with Sauteed Vegetables

The other night Thomas asked for fish.  We don't eat a ton of meat at our house, so when someone asks for it, I am happy to make it.  And we all enjoy fish and seafood here!

Our family favorites are tilapia and salmon.  I decided to try out a different fish this time, and found this recipe for Cod and Sauteed Vegetables in the book Awakening Beauty.

I modified the recipe somewhat, making it easier on me!

Thomas decided he prefers tilapia over cod, and couldn't stomach the sauteed vegetables because they were "contaminated" with mushrooms.  Although - he bravely finished both his fish (using our homemade Smoky BBQ Sauce) and "non-fungus veggies".

David and I liked it and I'll certainly make it again!

I placed two cod fillets on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with Kosher salt and pepper, then baked them at 350* for about 22 minutes.

While they were cooking, I started on the sauteed vegetables.

Issue #1 - the recipe calls for shredded carrots and zucchini, but I got confused.  Long grates like with a peeler/grater, or short shreds like with a cheese shredder?  I wasn't sure and it was taking forever.

 ???

So, I decided that julienne cuts would be best.  See below - long carrot shreds, short carrot shreds, and julienned carrots.  I call that "adding texture".

Issue #2 - The original recipe calls for a zucchini.  I stopped by my least favorite place (Wal-Mart) to pick up something else, and thought I'd just grab a zucchini while I was there.  Turns out - they were completely out of zucchini (how is that possible???) so we went with a yellow squash instead.

Issue #3 - I was only supposed to use 1 cup of sliced mushrooms, but David came home from work and kissed me and I forgot what I was doing.  So I ended up slicing all my mushrooms and just went ahead and tossed them in.  Whatever.

 

The vegetables sauteed in olive oil (original recipe calls for butter), with garlic, green onion, and sesame seeds. 

I squeezed a little lemon over the final product.

And David and I liked it - the vegetables were still crisp, and had lots of flavor.

And even contaminated with double the fungus, it was still very good!

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Enjoy!

Herbed Mushroom Caviar

Herbed Mushroom Caviar

We found this recipe in the June 2012 Vegetarian Times. 

Brennan found this recipe and wanted us to try it rightaway because a) he loves mushrooms, and b) caviar??  He even wrote "caviar?" at the bottom of the recipe.  He was intrigued.  Although - he must not have read the entire recipe because there is actually no traditional caviar in this recipe.  It comes from the look of diced mushrooms on baguette slice.

We changed it up a bit and made this recipe as a side dish while Thomas (our non mushroom fan) was sleeping over at a friend's house.

This is a fast, easy side dish that would be great with any meat main dish.

Instead of going for a caviar look, we quartered the button mushrooms after cleaning them.

Then we sauted them in olive oil. 

Once all the liquid had evaporated, we added lemon juice to deglaze the pan and let the lemon juice cook off.

Then we added minced garlic and fresh thyme.

We topped it off with parsley and served the dish warm.

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Bon Appetit!



Stuffed Portobellos

Stuffed Portobellos

A couple of weeks ago I went through all the recipes I'd ripped out of magazines/newspapers in the last few years, discarding quite a few.  To my surprise, I had SIX stuffed portobello recipes to try.

My youngest son, Brennan, is a huge mushroom fan.  When we were at the grocery earlier this week and I asked him to get two packages of portobellos, he was thrilled.

We removed the stems and spritzed a little olive oil on both sides.

 

I read through the 6 recipes and created my own Stuffed Portobello recipe that used ingredients we liked and I had on hand.

Leftover whole wheat couscous, corn, broccoli, almond slivers, lemon juice, seasonings, and a little olive oil to hold it all together.

Then I stuffed the portobellos and cooked them at 450* for 15 minutes.

They were fork-tender and delicious!

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Enjoy!

Easy Stroganoff - version 1

Easy Strogranoff

Version 1

I have several good recipes for Stroganoff that I will share. 

This first one I found a long time ago in a cookbook, but have no idea where.

We have always liked Stroganoff without the meat.

I realize that's unconventional but it works for us!

Brennan, our youngest, is a mushroom lover.  His older brother, Thomas, is not.

Thomas was tubing and skiing with the youth group yesterday for Martin Luther King Day so we decided to make this mushroom dish while Thomas was away.

Brennan chose wide, flat egg noodles to go with the dish.  You could use any kind of egg noodles.

You start by cooking mushrooms in butter.

Then add flour and cook well.

Then add the remaining ingredients and cook for 7 minutes before adding sour cream and removing the skillet from the heat.

Serve over your favorite egg noodles with no meat, or you can add cooked beef slices or meatballs.



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Prijatnovo appetita!

(Russian for Bon Apetit!)

Grilled Portobellos

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

Whenever I take my youngest son, Brennan, to the grocery store with me, we come home with new produce that we haven't had before which is awesome. 

This week it was a papaya and portobello mushroom caps.  He is a huge mushroom lover. 

Thomas, on the other hand, is not.

Sunday night Thomas was eating at Youth Group so we grilled up the portobellos for dinner.

I really like portobellos but had not grilled them before so I did a quick search online.

Turns out they are extremely easy!

Start by wiping down the caps with a moist towel to remove any dirt.

Brush a little olive oil on the cap, then flip them over.

Sprinkle salt & pepper on the underside and grill them this way, with the "gills" up.

Don't flip them over when grilling or you'll lose the juices.

Grill on indirect heat for 15 minutes.

And voila.

Slice and serve.

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Enjoy!



Wild Rice and Mushroom Pilaf

Real Simple's

Wild Rice and Mushroom Pilaf

I found this recipe in the December 2011 edition of Real Simple magazine and decided to try it out for my mushroom lover (Brennan).

It was very easy to make and made a nice change to regular rice as a side dish.

I used Uncle Ben's wild rice.

Cook the rice according to the directions on the box.

Melt butter in a frying pan and cook mixed mushrooms (I used cremini) for 7 minutes.

Add dry white wine (or chicken stock) and cook an additional 4 minutes.

Toss with the rice, sprinkle with chives (optional) and serve.

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Enjoy!