Stuffed Portobellos

 I am a lover of mushrooms. I always thought everyone loved mushrooms until a friend of mine told me she couldn’t stand them because, "They just lie on my tongue, and my teeth won’t chew them." I thought that was so funny, but she honestly felt that way. I love all kinds of mushrooms, but I particularly love the versatility of portobellos. They make such a wonderful main dish, and with their beefy taste, you won’t even miss the meat. This delicious recipe is the result of my cleaning out the fridge, believe it or not. I had a little bit of cottage cheese left over from the Beef & Noodle Bake, some fresh spinach threatening to go bad, as well as half of a jar of marinated artichoke hearts. I combined all of this, along with one of my favorite ingredients, fire roasted red bell peppers, and cheese (Can you ever go wrong adding cheese to anything?), and came up with this delicious recipe. If you cut it in quarters, it’s a wonderful appetizer; two make a hearty meal, and one, a nice side. No matter how you decide to serve yours, it will be very well received.

Stuffed Portobellos

4 large Melissa’s portobello mushrooms

1 T. olive oil

½ c. chopped onion

1 T. Melissa’s minced garlic

½ c. chopped marinated artichoke hearts

2 handfuls baby spinach, chopped

¼ c. chopped Melissa’s roasted red peppers

¼ c. cottage cheese

¼ t. kosher salt

¼ t. freshly ground pepper

1 t. Frank’s hot sauce

1/3 c. Italian breadcrumbs

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

 Preheat oven to 400°F.

Carefully remove stems and gills from mushrooms. Reserve and chop the stems for the stuffing; set aside. Place the mushrooms stem side down onto a baking pan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the water leaks out of them. Remove from the oven and drain paper towels; set aside. 

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and chopped steams, and sauté for a couple minutes until the onion is translucent. Add garlic, artichoke hearts, spinach, and red peppers to the skillet and cook for a couple more minutes, until the spinach wilts. Stir in cottage, cheese, salt, pepper, hot sauce, and breadcrumbs, and cook until heated through.

 Use an ice cream scoop to scoop up the stuffing, and divide equally among the mushrooms. Top with mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

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Two Hearts Salad

 

Here is a simple salad for Memorial Day Monday. There really isn’t much to this considering how delicious and elegant it can be; it can also be dressed down for an every day meal. You can serve it as a side dish in a custard cup or in an ornate bowl. You can serve it over lettuce leaves as I have done here, or chopped mixed greens. You can also serve it in individual leaves of Boston lettuce for easy pickings on a buffet. If you have any of this salad left over (not likely), rinse it and use it in a quiche. I am not kidding! SO GOOD!

Two Hearts Salad

1 14.8-oz. jar Melissa’s Hearts of Palm
1 14.75-oz. jar marinated artichokes, drained, reserve juice
½ c. thinly sliced red onion
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 t. red wine vinegar

Slice hearts of palm on the diagonal in bite-size pieces, approximately ½ to ¾ inches. Cut artichoke hearts in halves or quarters, depending upon the initial size. Thinly slice red onion (I use a mandolin). Put all vegetables into a medium bowl.

Measure out ½ cup of the reserved juice from the marinated artichokes. Into that stir in 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon cider vinegar. Whisk together until fully emulsified. Pour over vegetables and toss gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

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Artichoke Remoulade

Planning ahead (something I seldom do), I decided to make remoulade over the weekend in preparation for what I had planned on eating this week. For the first time in my life, I decided I needed to make fried green tomatoes, and what better topping than remoulade? I also had picked up some beautiful crab cakes from a local market, and have those on the schedule, as well as planned on making egg salad for sandwiches. Egg salad? You ask, quizzically. Yep. If you’re as lazy as I am, having remoulade on hand makes egg salad the easiest thing ever. Just chop your eggs, and spoon in the remoulade, a little at a time, until you get the desired texture. It works equally well in chicken and ham salads. I have another recipe on the blog that you can find here, but today I decided to mix things up a bit and add artichoke hearts. Boy, is this delicious!

Artichoke Remoulade

1½ cups Duke’s mayonnaise
¼ cup whole grain mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. smoked paprika
¼ t. Old Bay
¼ t. Crystal Hot Sauce
3 scallions, white and tender green parts, chopped
1 6-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and minced
In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients until combined. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to allow flavors to meld. Keeps, refrigerated, for 7-10 days. Makes 2 cups.

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Green Bean Artichoke Bake

My O-P used to lament over the paucity of vegetable recipes containing his favorite vegetable, the green bean. He’d look for them, but would always come up short after Green Beans Amandine, and the ubiquitous Green Bean Casserole. I got to thinking about this, wondering why it was the case. Then I started thinking about my Green Bean Salad, and wondered if I could come up with a hot version to use as a side dish, and thus the Green Bean Artichoke Bake was born. I swapped the tomatoes with red peppers, and croutons with Italian breadcrumbs, but it works! Overnight marinating makes the vegetables tender and flavorful, the topping gives it a pleasant crunch.

Green Bean Artichoke Bake

1 14.5-oz. can green beans, drained
1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1/2 cup diced Melissa’s Roasted Red Peppers
8 oz. Italian dressing, your choice
1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. Butter, cut in pieces

Toss together green beans, artichokes, and red peppers. Pour Italian dressing over all, stir to coat, cover, and place in the fridge to marinate overnight. The next day, drain liquid and place vegetables in an ovenproof baking dish (or individual ramekins). Sprinkle breadcrumbs and cheese on top, dot with butter. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes, or until hot. Serves 4, but can be doubled.

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A crowd-pleasing green bean recipe for a crowd is Smothered Green Beans.

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Mashed Potato Artichoke Bake

 Side dishes often get short shrift on blogs, taking a back seat to decadent desserts, magnificent main dishes, and budget friendly casseroles.  But like the secretary in the background who always makes her boss look good, the side dish can make or break a meal or buffet.  I spotted this recipe on the Taste of Home website and decided to give it a try.  I’m a big fan of potatoes, mashed in particular, but was growing weary of the usual suspects when it came to mashed potato casseroles.  This make-ahead dish gets a lot of zing from the fresh dill and artichokes, and served four of us easily.

Mashed Potato Artichoke Bake
Adapted from TasteofHome.com

Prep: 30 min. Bake: 15 min.
Yield: 4 Servings

2 medium-large russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon snipped fresh dill
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
Dash freshly ground black pepper
3/4 can artichoke hearts (NOT marinated), chopped
2 small scallions, diced
2 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Place potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until fork tender. Mash potatoes with the sour cream, milk, mayonnaise, butter and seasonings. Fold in artichokes and scallions.

Transfer to a 1-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with bacon and cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

This post is linked to: On the Menu Monday

The Pasta House Co. Special Salad

The Pasta House Co. is a St. Louis Tradition.  Founded in 1974 it has been a popular Italian family restaurant for as far back as I can remember.  They are known for their Italian salad that has graced many a local and not-so-local table (thanks to the prolific sharing of their recipe), and adorned our deck table last night as we enjoyed light dinner fare along with a beautiful autumn sunset.

The “official” recipe is below.  I make a few changes in the dressing in that I add a teaspoon of sugar and a half teaspoon of dried mustard giving it a bit more zing, and toss in a spoonful or two of homemade croutons.

The Pasta House Co. Special Salad
Ingredients:

1 Head Iceberg Lettuce
1/3 Head Romaine Lettuce
1 cup Artichoke Hearts
1 cup sliced Red Onions
1 cup diced Pimentos
2/3 cup Olive Oil
1/3 cup REGINA wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano cheese

Procedure:

Wash the iceberg and romaine lettuce, allowing all the water to drain completely. Place in refrigerator to chill. When lettuce is well-chilled, remove from refrigerator. Split head of iceberg lettuce in half, pulling the heart of lettuce out of both halves and breaking into small pieces. DO NOT USE A KNIFE ON LETTUCE. Only separate the rest of the iceberg, it will break up when tossed. Tear the romaine lettuce (each leaf into 3 sections). Place both kinds of lettuce into mixing bowl.

Drain artichoke hearts well; measure and add to lettuce. DO NOT USE MARINATED ARTICHOKE HEARTS. Peel and slice red onion; drain and dice pimentos. DRAIN PIMENTOS COMPLETELY or salad will turn red. Measure the onions and pimentos and add to lettuce.

Add Olive Oil, Vinegar, salt, pepper and toss. Then add Parmigiano cheese. Toss until all is mixed completely and serve. Serves four.

Makes 1-2 Servings

I'm linking this post to Tablescape Thursday, not so much for the table setting, but here this gorgeous table is the whole show!