For Mandy: A super easy one! Portabella Burgers

Mandy asked me what I make that is super easy. This is one my friend Alicia pointed out a long time ago. They are so good - my meat-lover husband wanted these on Saturday night this weekend.

Grilled Portobello Burger with Basil Mayo

1/4 cup basil, fresh, chopped
3 Tbsp reduced-calorie mayonnaise
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
4 medium portobello mushroom(s), caps, equivalent to 1 pound
4 sprays olive oil cooking spray
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
4 medium mixed-grain hamburger roll(s)
3/4 cup roasted red peppers, about 4 pieces
4 slice red onion(s)
4 piece lettuce

1. Heat grill or grill pan. In a small bowl, combine basil, mayonnaise and vinegar; set aside.

2. Lightly coat both sides of mushroom caps with cooking spray; season with salt and pepper.

3. Grill mushrooms over medium-high heat, until just soft to the touch, about 6 minutes per side.

4. To serve, split rolls and toast on grill. Spread a heaping teaspoon of basil mixture on top and bottom halves of rolls. Layer each bottom half with one lettuce leaf, red pepper, mushroom and onion slice; top with remaining half of roll and serve

I bought two huge portabellas at super target. Todd charcoal grilled them.

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I was at Whole Foods this weekend, so I bought these Sea Salt Ciabatta rolls to put them on. They were good, but too much bread. I might try them on the Rosemary Rolls from there, but I think they're also great on Orowheat Stone Ground Hamburger Rolls.

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The Basil Mayonnaise is very easy to mix up. I have used fresh basil, and also the squeeze kind that comes in a tube. It's just basil, light mayo, and cider vinegar.

Oh, and they are also very good with a slice of pepper jack on top of the mushroom.

The finished product. Very good. I serve with oven fries, usually. This night, we had leftover pasta salad from bunko night.

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Israeli Couscous

We tried this recipe for Couscous w/Artichokes, Feta, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes a long time ago, but I couldn't find the right kind of couscous. I could only find the little tiny kind - Moroccan? - and it just wasn't as good. So, I came across the official "Israeli" kind in the bulk bins at CM, so I decided to give it a second try.

I read the reviews b/c a lot of times other people will say what they serve with a dish, and that gives me ideas. One person suggested a cucumber salad and steamed kale as a side, and I thought that sounded good.

I made a chopped cucumber salad with mint, jalapeno, lemon, garlic, and plain yogurt as a dressing. It was too hot, and the mint wasn't enough flavor - I've had better cucumber salads. Here's a beginning shot.

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Then I got started on the main dish. These are the kind of sun-dried tomatoes I used. They are NOT packed in oil, and I used the whole package. I got them at WalMart.

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I reconstituted them by following the directions in the recipe.

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The Israeli Couscous. This was super easy to cook. Once again, just followed the directions - just boiled in veg broth. No draining required.

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These are the mix-ins for the couscous dish. Flat leaf parsley, chopped chicken (we grilled extra over the weekend and I saved for this), marinated artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta. All of the contents of the artichoke jars goes in - once again, no draining. You just mix all the ingredients in and grind a little black pepper over it.

While the couscous was cooking, I steamed some kale in a steamer basket. This is SO EASY! I just trimmed the ends and then chopped. I didn't remove the rib, although I saw some websites that recommended that.

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The final product:

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This was great! Very easy, flavorful, and it made enough for leftovers for both of us. It is MUCH BETTER with the right kind of couscous. Much better texture, and it's not as gloppy.

I'm excited about the kale. It was really easy and flavorful - I just added salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar and tossed in a serving dish. Now we have another healthy green side to add to our menu.

The cucumber salad - like I said, I've had better. :)

An old favorite - Lentil Burgers

Tonight I made one of my old favorites - Smoked Cheddar and Lentil Burgers. This recipe is a little time consuming, but I always double and freeze 8 patties, so I think it is worth it. Todd says it's just as good as a regular burger! But no meat!

After making these several times, I have learned that three things can't be altered or substituted...
1 - smoked cheddar. it gives it a grilled taste, and a milder smoked cheese just goes away when it is cooking.
2 - arugula. it needs this spicy green as a topping.
3 - stone ground mustard.

Today I substituted dry thyme (half of what the recipe calls for) for the fresh b/c I didn't want to pay $2 for a little pack. It tasted just fine.

I always make these on a day when I'm going to be around the house or in and out. I boil the lentils early and just let them cool for a long time. Today I started about 10...boiled the lentils and sauteed the veggies, and then I let them sit and cool until after lunch.

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I chopped the carrot and onion in the food processor...

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After lunch, Leo helped mash the lentils...

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Then you just add the other spices, breadcrumbs, and cheese. This is the cheese I used today...

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And I forgot to get a picture of it all mixed up. But I mixed it all up after lunch and then let it sit in the fridge until I was ready to make dinner.

I started by making eight patties to freeze...

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Should be nice to pull out during the busy month of December. I think I'll start doubling a meal to freeze here and there so I'll have more for that crazy month.

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Cooking in my evil non-stick grill pan. They won't all fit at the same time, so some are starting and some are finishing in this picture. That's another reason I love this recipe - it makes a good, generous-sized patty.

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I served with oven fries and steamed broccoli. I love this one - and with eight patties, we had enough for tonight and for leftovers for both of us for tomorrow.

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Henry liked it too. Leo had a turkey and cheese sandwich.

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Tentative Meal Plan for Nov 12-15

Mon - Mexicali Rose Taco Salad w/grilled chicken

Tues - Smoked Cheddar and Lentil Burgers; oven fries; green beans

Wed - Israeli Couscous w/Artichokes, Feta, and SunDried Tomatoes; steamed kale; Minted Yogurt and Cucumber Salad

Thur - Red Beans and Rice; Asian Slaw; French Bread

Pasta with Sausage, Cannellini Beans, and Kale

I wanted to try a recipe with kale - a book I've been reading talked about how we have lost the taste for many greens in America, and kale is a green I've never tried. Also, I told Carla awhile back that I could never find canned Cannellini beans, so she brought me a can from Albertson's. I knew Todd would love this recipe with turkey sausage, so I decided to give it a try. Especially since it was in the Dinner Tonight (fast recipe) section of November's Cooking Light.

The kale. I wasn't quite sure how to prepare it - Googled around and didn't find much. Finally I just cut off the bottom part of the stalks and shredded the rest.

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Onions, sausage, spices, etc.

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Adding the kale. It filled up the entire pan at first, but it quickly wilted.

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I decided to use a high-fiber pasta instead of the farfalle.

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This got high marks around here. The kale gave it lots of flavor, and it was great to have a good pasta dish that wasn't creamy for a change. It held up great for leftovers.

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Whole Wheat Morning Glory Muffins

First a little history...the first time I ran White Rock a few weeks ago, Carla and Allie and I went for coffee at a new-to-us place called White Rock Coffee. They had this yummy concoction called "Morning Glory Bread" that was really great. So I came home and Googled and found what I thought might be the recipe. The bread was dark in color and had all kinds of goodies - raisins, coconut, carrots, apple, etc. I found this recipe from Whole Foods.

The recipe calls for Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and Evaporated Cane Sugar, which I didn't have. Carla tried the recipe first without those, and she said it was pretty good. So she took a field trip to Central Market and got the missing ingredients (said fancy flour and sugar), and she paid it forward by giving us some for our attempt at Morning Glory Bread.

Since we are going to be camping this weekend, Leo and I gave it the recipe a try today so that we would have some goodies for our trip.

We got out all the stuff... (the sundried tomatoes on the counter are for dinner...to be posted later...)

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Leo holds up the precious "fancy" ingredients. The Evaporated Cane Sugar is really pretty...looks like little tiny crystals...and the Whole Wheat Pastry Flour definitely has a finer texture than regular whole wheat...

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Leo is an expert egg cracker now...

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He tried something new today. He peeled a carrot for the first time, and he really did a fabulous job!

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Dry ingredients...wet ingredients...and the extra goodies (carrot, coconut, fuji apple, raisins, walnuts)...


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We mixed it all together - chunkier and heartier looking than muffins we've made before...

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The final product...

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They didn't rise as much as muffins with regular flour. But they were OUT OF THIS WORLD good! Crunchy on the edges and soft in the middle. All the "goodies" were delicious. Those fancy ingredients really made a difference. We put raisins in half of the muffins (Leo suddenly doesn't like raisins). He accidentally got one with a raisin in his first bite and now refuses to eat them, but I'm not going to dwell on that. They were SO good - I highly recommend these!