Variations: White Bean Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

White Bean Guacamole Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

White Bean Goat Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

 

Variations on White Bean Stuffed Portobellos

Some days, it's easy to become overwhelmed with the sheer number of possible recipes and meal ideas.  Pinterest recipes alone are enough to push my decision-making skills over the edge (sometimes you don't want to make the fifteen-step meal that you pinned three months ago).  Often, the best options include keeping it simple-- and working with what you have in your own fridge and pantry.

Therefore, these recipes are brought to you by my need to eat healthily, quickly, and creatively ( and using what ingredients I had around the kitchen!).  I bring you white bean stuffed portobello mushroom two ways!

Option 1: White Bean Goat Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushroom (serves 2)

This is a great warm, gooey, and cheese-y (but healthy!) recipe

Ingredients

 2 portobello mushroom caps

1 can of drained and rinsed Great Northern beans (this is going to depend on how stuffed you want your mushroom to be--if you want a lighter meal, 1/2-3/4 of the can should suffice).

2 tsp of garlic powder or fresh garlic

3 oz of garlic and herb goat cheese

1 tsp of salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp of pepper (or to taste)

1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes (feel free to omit this if you'd like)

1 tbsp of olive oil

2 oz of shredded of Fontina or Gruyere cheese

1tbsp of all purpose seasoning (I like Trader Joe's 21 seasoning salute)

Preheat a 400 degree oven.  Using a damp paper towel, wipe down the mushroom so that the cap of the mushroom is clean and smooth. Pull out the stem and scoop out the gills of the mushroom. Grease a baking dish with the olive oil (using leftover olive oil to rub onto the mushroom) and use a tiny bit of your all purpose seasoning to lightly season the mushroom cap. 

 Mix together the drained and rinsed beans, goat cheese, seasonings (garlic/garlic powder, all purpose seasoning, salt, and peppers) and distribute the mixture evenly in the cavity of the mushroom caps.  Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of each mushroom cap.  Bake for 20 minutes until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Option 2: White Bean Guacamole Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

The cold white bean guac over the warm, smokey mushroom is a great Spring recipe!

Ingredients

2 portobello mushroom caps

1 ripe avocado

1 cup of cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 tbsp of lemon or lime juice

1 can of drained and rinsed Great Northern Beans (again, this is going to depend on how stuffed you want your mushroom to be--if you want a lighter meal, 1/2-3/4 of the can should suffice)

1/2 tsp of ground cumin

1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper

A generous (or not-so-generous) dash of your favorite hot sauce

1/2 tsp of garlic

1/2 tsp of salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp of pepper (or to taste)

**optional: 1 tbsp of minced cilantro

Preheat a 400 degree oven.  Using a damp paper towel, wipe down the mushroom so that the cap of the mushroom is clean and smooth. Pull out the stem and scoop out the gills of the mushroom. Grease a baking dish with the olive oil (using leftover olive oil to rub onto the mushroom).  If you like, take a pinch of the cumin and rub over the cap of the mushrooms. Roast the mushrooms for about 15 minutes

Cut open the avocado, removing the seed, and mash together with the drained and rinsed white beans, lemon/lime juice, spices, garlic, cilantro and hot sauce.  Distribute mixture evenly between mushrooms.  Garnish with cilantro.

Hope you enjoy one--or BOTH-- recipes!

Lemony Orecchiette with Roasted Broccoli and Feta AND The Prodigal Blogger Returns

Southern California doesn't really understand the concept of January.  In other parts of the country (and world) people are bundled up in coats, scarves, and gloves, preparing themselves for the next round of snow storms.  In Southern California this past weekend it was in the 80s ... yes, the 80s. Now, to be fair, SoCal is also in the middle of an historic drought (details, details ...).  Nevertheless, like any good resident of Southern California, I sacrificed myself for the rest of the frost-bitten country by spending the weekend outside.

As part of my enjoying-the-drought-weather weekend, I had lunch out on the patio of a cafeteria-inspired restaurant called Lemonade.  It's basically an upscale adult cafeteria that serves fresh, flavorful food in an atmosphere vaguely reminiscent of your school cafeteria (I use the term "vaguely" because the only thing that this restaurant has in common with your school cafeteria is that you get to walk down a line with a tray and point at the food you want).

I don't know if their roasted broccoli salad with feta called to me because the summery weather made the idea of lighter fare seem really appealing, or if my body wanted something green with cheese, but while I ordered several other tasty items, I couldn't tell you what they were because the broccoli with feta was just so good that I forgot about everything else in my life (bills/chores/dissertation).

It's not fair.  It's just broccoli and feta-- how on earth could something so simple be so satisfying?  I was ready to recreate this meal the minute I got home.  I decided to add pasta and lemon to my salad because I thought it would round out the meal nicely-- and I wasn't disappointed.  So, if you're really in the need to recreate a summer dish to get over your winter blues (or a very lovely week night dinner), try this!

Lemony Orecchiette with Roasted Broccoli and Feta

Ingredients

2 cups of orecchiette pasta

1lb of broccoli florets 

1/2 block of feta cheese (I love the sheep's milk feta in brine at Trader Joe's)

2 cloves of garlic minced

1tsp of lemon zest

juice from one lemon

2 tbsp of olive oil (one for the broccoli and one for the dressing)

1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard

2 tsp of salt (one for the broccoli and one for the dressing)

1tsp of pepper (use half for the broccoli and half for the dressing)

Preheat oven to 425.  Wash and chop the broccoli and toss in the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Lay broccoli on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes (the broccoli will still have a bit of firmness, you may roast it a bit longer if you prefer your broccoli to be more tender).  Set aside your broccoli and boil the orecchiette pasta until al dente.  In the meantime, whisk the lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, and salt/pepper.  Dice your feta cheese into nice sized squares (they'll disintegrate a bit when you toss them with the pasta, broccoli, and dressing, so you don't want the pieces to be too small). 

When the pasta is finished, rinse with cool water, drain, and add to a large bowl with the broccoli, feta, and dressing.  Toss to coat evenly.  Can be eaten at room temperature or cold.  Enjoy!

Makes about 4 servings