Garlic Naan Flatbreads - A duo: Pesto/Tomato/Mozz & Mushroom/Mozz/Truffle

Thoughts and Inspiration

Who doesn't love pizza?  I had some leftover garlic naan from the previous night's dinner - so of course why not throw some cheese on there with your favorite fix-ins and turn them into delicious flat-bread pizzas!?  The first one is a pesto/tomato/mozzarella and the second one is a mushroom/mozzarella/truffle.  Enjoy and as always, make it your own and be creative!

Ingredients for both Flat-breads

2 garlic naans

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Fresh mozzarella (I used medallions that I cut in half lengthwise) - the amount totally depends on how cheesy you like your pizza

Pesto Flat-bread

2 Tbsp pesto

1/2 Roma tomato, thinly sliced

Kosher salt

Mushroom Flat-bread

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

5-6 button mushrooms, chopped or sliced

1 tsp olive oil

Sprinkle rosemary and thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp white truffle oil (or any flavor infused oil - basil or garlic perhaps)

For the mushrooms: Saute mushrooms in 1 tsp olive oil on medium heat until cooked through (about 5-6 minutes).  Sprinkle seasoning and remove from heat.

Heat oven to 350F.  Place garlic naans in oven for 3 minutes.  

Assembly:

Pesto Flat-bread - Spread pesto evenly over naan.  Top with tomato slices, fresh mozzarella and a sprinkle of Kosher salt.

Mushroom Flat-bread - Sprinkle 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella evenly onto naan.  Top with mushrooms and fresh mozzarella. 

Place flat-breads into 350F oven for 3-5 minutes (until cheese starts to bubble).  For mushroom flat-bread, drizzle 1 Tbsp truffle oil immediately after taking out of oven.

Cut into 4 pieces and enjoy!

Sprinkle crushed red pepper is desired.

Pesto Flat-bread

Mushroom Flat-bread

Finished product!

Quinoa & Red Lentil 'Porridge' with Veggies

Thoughts and Inspiration

This is another one pot meal.  As always, I wanted to make something that my husband and I could take to lunch that wouldn't require too much effort.  It is a meal in itself and you can definitely have this for dinner as well!

I use canned tomatoes in the recipe, along with some frozen veggies to save time.  This dish has got a punch of protein from the lentils, edamame and quinoa.

Red lentils cook differently (in my opinion) than green lentils.  They are definitely softer in texture and sort of melt away into the dish.  So don't expect to be biting into the lentils here, rather the quinoa and lentils combine into a porridge-like consistency.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 red onion, diced 
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced and diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
*1/2 cup Trader Joes frozen Soycutash
3/4 cup Trader Joes frozen mixed bell peppers (or you can use fresh)
14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes (I used Hunt's)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
**3/4 cup red lentils
**1/2 cup quinoa
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp McCormick Grill Mates Roasted Garlic & Herb Seasoning
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp dry parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot saute onions, mushrooms and garlic in olive oil on medium heat for about 5-6 minutes.  Next, add in all frozen vegetables and saute for an additional 3-4 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes, broth, water, lentils and quinoa.  Bring this all to a simmer - once it has reached a simmer place a lid on pot and continue to simmer (not boil) for about 15 minutes.  Add in all spices mixing gently and simmer (uncovered) for 5 more minutes (try a spoonful to make sure lentils and quinoa have cooked through - if not, simmer an additional few minutes).  When serving garnish with parsley and a little crushed red pepper... and maybe even a few shavings of Parmesan!
 

*Note: You can easily substitute with 1/4 cup frozen corn + 1/4 cup frozen shelled edamame

**Red lentils and quinoa generally have similar cooking times anywhere between 12-16 minutes.

Hello Panzanella, Meet Spinach Salad

Thoughts and Inspiration

So where did this salad idea stem from?...

Let's see... my husband despises, and I mean really despises cucumbers.  Can you believe that?!  I mean who doesn't love cucumbers?!  They are so crisp and sweet and delicious!  He's really funny about it too, because he actually loves pickles!

Anyway, so this salad is sort of a play on a traditional panzanella... it's a panzanella meets a spinach salad.  I throw in corn to add a little sweetness that is missing by eliminating the cucumbers.  Enjoy!

Salad Ingredients

1 loaf crusty Italian bread, cut into cubes
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and pepper
8oz. package white mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
6 slices vegan bacon (cooked according to package and chopped)
7-8oz bag baby spinach
¼ red onion, sliced thin
¼ cup corn
½ cup grape tomatoes, slice lengthwise
**2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

Dressing Ingredients
3 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp champagne vinegar
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp dijon mustard
1 dash salt

*Pre-heat oven to 275^oF.  Take bread cubes and lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.   Crisp in oven for about 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 

Whisk all dressing ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Cook mushrooms in 1 Tbsp olive oil on medium heat for 5-6 minutes until cooked through.  Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.  At this time, cook bacon according to package, allow to cool, and cut into pieces.

In a large salad bowl combine all ingredients together with spinach; slowly drizzle in dressing, tossing everything together in coat.

Serve in a bowl and top with a couple slices of hard boiled egg.**
 

*Note:  This can be done ahead of time.
**Note:   I didn't do this, but a traditional spinach salad would call for hard boiled eggs.  For those of you that are strict vegan/vegetarians, leave this out.

Drunken Chipotle Mushrooms and Spinach

Thoughts and Inspiration

This was an old recipe on mine that I dug up and re-tested and sort of re-invented.  If you decide to use Marsala wine the dish will have a slight bit of sweetness to it... If you decide to use red wine the dish will have a more bold flavor.  I generally tend to use Marsala when making this, but as always... make it your own!  I feel that the sweetness from the Marsala wine compliments the red cabbage really well too!

Time: 20-25 minutes

Serves 3

Ingredients
Garlic infused oil**

Basil infused oil**

1/4  red onion, thinly sliced

4 ounces (1/2 package) white button mushrooms, sliced

4 ounces (1/2 package) cremini mushrooms, sliced 

8 oz (1 package) shitake mushrooms, sliced 
4 cloves garlic, minced

1 chipotle pepper (in adobo sauce), chopped

1 Tbsp adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers)
1/2 cup marsala wine or dry red wine

15 oz (1 bag) baby spinach, washed

1/4 cup red cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped
Salt to taste

In a sauce pan heat 1 Tbsp each of the oils on medium heat.  Add the onion slices and let sweat for about 4 minutes.  Add in all mushrooms, along with garlic and saute for 5-6 minutes.  Stir in the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce and wine.  Place lid on pan and let simmer for about 5 additional minutes.  Once the liquid has reduced, add in entire bag of baby spinach and red cabbage.  Stir until baby spinach has wilted.  Season with salt according to taste.  Serve on top of your favorite grain of choice!  (I made a mix - 1/2 cup of farro and 1/2 cup of Trader Joe's Brown Rice Medley)

**Note:  If you do not have garlic or basil infused oil, use regular olive oil (will taste just as amazing).  I purchased the garlic infused oil from Trader Joes.  The basil infused oil I made myself.  Simply take 1/2 cup of olive oil and add 2 Tbsp of dried basil to the oil.  Allow oil to sit for about 1 hour before use.  The infused oil stays good for use for an extended period of time.

Portabello Asada and Black Beans

Thoughts and Inspiration

So here is my interpretation of a vegetarian carne asada dish.  Portabello mushrooms are hearty and meaty!  This is a fun meal that you can do so much with.  Use my basic recipe and create your own dish.  You can throw the mushrooms into a wrap - burrito or taco style.  You can use the leftover black beans and make a great hooked-up plate of nachos... or create a breakfast dish - add into a frittata or serve it up with a fried egg!

Ingredients

½ red onion, thick slices

4 Large Portabello Mushroom Caps, cleaned

1 Frontera Carne Asada Marinade pouch

½ cup Marsala wine

¼ cup scallions, sliced

Ingredients for black beans

1 Tbsp olive oil

½ medium red onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup soy chorizo crumbles

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained

1/3 cup water

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp paprika

*¼ tsp McCormick chipotle and roasted garlic seasoning

¼ cup scallions, sliced

¼ cup cilantro, chopped

Portabellos and Onions:

Place mushrooms into a glass bowl or plastic ziplock bag with 3/4 of the marinade.  Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Heat a cast iron skillet.  Add onion slices with a tsp of marinade and cook for 4-5 minutes or until nicely browned.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and place into a bowl until ready for plating.

Next, place mushrooms onto skillet starting with gill side down (2 at a time depending on the size of your cast iron).

Cook mushrooms, turning multiple times to ensure even cooking, until fully cooked through (approximately 13-18 minutes depending on thickness).  As the liquid sizzles away and absorbs into the mushrooms, continue to add a couple Tbsps of the marinade to make sure the mushrooms stay juicy.

When the mushrooms are 2-3 minutes from being fully done, add Marsala to finish cooking (remember if cooking in 2 separate batches, only use 1/4 cup of Marsala).

Remove mushrooms from skillet and place onto a cutting board.  Allow to cool 3-4 minutes (so the juices absorb).  **Slice on a diagonal as shown in the picture.  Garnish with scallions.

Black Beans:

Heat a skillet and saute onions in olive oil for 3-4 minutes on medium-low heat.

Add garlic and chorizo and saute together for another 3-4 minutes.

Add all the other ingredients to the mixture and stir.

Place lid onto skillet and simmer on medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

***Serve with brown rice, quinoa or farro.

*If you don't have this seasoning, sub it with any other Mexican chili powder.

**Using a sharp knife, hold mushroom and about 7-8 slices on a diagonal.  Fan out slightly as you plate.

***When plating, place mushroom slices onto one side of plate and sprinkle with few scallion slices on top.  Plate 2-3 Tbsp of beans aside your choice of grain and finally add with a few onion slices.

Fiesta Chipotle Wrap

Thoughts & Inspiration

A quick but yummy dinner after an intense workout!  This wrap is veggie loaded and deliciously seasoned!  I used Morningstar Buffalo Chik Patties, but feel free to use your favorite filler and it in your own!

Cook Time: 25 minutes     Makes 2

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

3/4 white onion, sliced

1/3 cup frozen corn

5 oz package of shitake mushrooms, slices
3 large kale leaves, chopped

4 grape tomatoes, chopped
2 radishes, sliced (just for some crunch)
Sprinkling of cheddar cheese (however cheesy your heart desires)
2 Morningstar Buffalo Chik Patties (cooked in oven according to package)

Sauce Ingredients
3 Tbsp of sauce from the canned chipotles in adobo sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp honey

1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder 

Salt to taste

2 burrito style tortillas

For the sauce:

Combine all the ingredients together in a medium sided bowl and whisk together.

Saute onion in oil olive on medium high heat until onions are cooked and browned, approximately 3-4 minutes.  Add frozen corn and saute for an additional 2 minutes.  Next, add mushrooms and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.  Toss in kale and 3 Tbsp of the sauce.  Mix and saute for 1-2 minutes until kale wilts.  Remove from heat.  (I used a cast iron skillet to cook the vegetables.)

Once the Chik Patty is cooked, chop into a few squares and add to bowl with remainder of sauce.  Mix patty pieces until slightly coated with sauce.

Assemble wraps by placing 1/2 the chik patties, cheese, veggies along with tomatoes and radishes along one side of the tortilla.  Roll and tuck the ingredients to get a tight wrap so that it looks like a burrito.

Helpful Tip:  I take a piece of fold and wrap it around the bottom of one end of the wrap.  This makes it clean and simple to eat!