Marinated Portobello Mushrooms with Sun Dried Tomato Sauce

For as fancy as this sounds, the thought process that led me to it was rather simple. First I looked in my fridge to see what we had on hand, then I checked to see which measuring cups were clean. I could lie to you and say that I was trying to achieve a balance between the saltiness of the tomatoes and the sweet cherry notes of the pinot noir....but no, it was more like "Hey look Portobello mushrooms, I bet I have something in my fridge that will make those taste good....and look here, I have a tbs measure that isn't dirty, let's use that.

For the Marinade
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
4 tbs red wine
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs prepared mustard
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 cloves peeled and pressed garlic

Clean and degill* four mushrooms and place them in a baking dish. Whisk together the marinade ingredients and pour over the mushrooms. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours turning once. I left mine in all day, yum!

For the sauce

1 package (3.5 oz) sun dried tomatoes
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs red wine
2 cloves peeled garlic
1 15oz can of tomato sauce

Put the garlic, oil, wine, and tomatoes in your food processor. Process until smoothish and start adding sauce. Once all the ingredients are in there, and you are certain you don't have any large chunks of garlic left you are done.

Now let us put it all together.....

Grill the mushrooms until desired doneness.

Heat the sauce in a saucepan over medium low heat until cooked through. Stir occasionally.

Pour sauce over mushrooms and serve.

This was delish! I added smoked Gouda to the hubsters portion (pictured). I thought the sauce was a tad salty, hubster disagreed....but he likes food super salty. I would suggest using no salt added tomato sauce, and adding more salt as you see fit.




*I don't know if degill is a word, the wavy red lines of doom are indicating to me that no...it is in fact not. But what I mean by degill is take your paring knife and carefully scrape all of those black gilly type things out of the inside of the mushroom.

Smokey Chipotle Black Bean Burger

This is a OAMC recipe. I made these sort of assembly line style and it took a good bit of time, but it was worth it for us because now i have a ton of veggie burgers in my freezer that make quick and filling dinners. It only took a little bit of effort for each part of the process, but it can look a bit daunting when you put it all together.

I soaked the beans the night before, then first thing in the morning I drained and rinsed them. Then I set them to boil while I chopped up my onions, garlic, and measured out my spices in a bowl. I added the onion and bay leaf, and then I made breakfast for the kids. Thirty minutes later, when the timer went off I just dumped the garlic and bowl of spices in. Then I got the kids dressed and thirty minutes later when the timer went off again I tasted them, removed the bay leaves, and turned off the heat. I let the beans cool a bit then I pureed them up with the rest of the ingredients to make my veggie burger "dough". That went into the fridge until I was ready to turn it into patties.

You could probably cut this recipe in half and try it out before you commit to a freezer full of bean burgers.

For the beans
One pound beans rinsed sorted and soaked overnight...then rinsed again.
2 onions diced
2 bay leaves
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and diced
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs chili powder
1 tbs ground cumin

In a large pot combine the beans, onion and salt. Add water just to cover, and toss in the bay leaves.

Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Boil for thirty minutes and add the spices and garlic. Set the timer for 15 minutes and check beans. Mine took about an hour total to cook.

Remove bay leaves. Let beans cool.

If there is excessive liquid skim it off...a tiny bit of liquid is ok. You don't want it pooling, or for the beans to be submerged. The more liquid you have the more breadcrumbs you will need though.


Now....to turn these babies into burgers....

The beans....hu-duh
1/2-2 chipotle chilis in adobo....start with 1/2 and you can always add more. And remember what I always say, you can never have too much spice....unless it's in your eyes, then pretty much any amount is too much.
2 baked potatoes skins removed
1/4 cup tomato sauce
Bread crumbs, the amount you need will vary depending on how much cooking liquid you had, how big your baked potatoes were...etc. I believe I may have used about 3 cups. What you are looking for is the texture of cookie dough so stop when you get there...
Salt to taste.
Liquid smoke to taste...trust me, this stuff is the bomb diggity! Get some! Use it, love it, thank me later...don't be discouraged from buying it just because I still use early nineties catch phrases like "the bomb diggity".



Process 3/4 of the beans, the potatoes, tomato sauce, and the chipotle in your food processor until smooth. Pour into a large bowl.

Stir in the rest of the beans, and the breadcrumbs until your mixture is very thick and holds it's shape well. Add salt, pepper and liquid smoke to taste, cover and refrigerate.

When you are ready to grill, just shape the dough into patties and grill, bake or fry them up. I served them on homemade bread with mozzarella and avocado! Yum! I froze the leftover burgers. They did well reheated.



More tips on veggie burger making.

Veggie Burger Tips

There are so many advantages to making your own veggie burgers, you control the sodium, flavorings, ingredients, and texture. Also, if you happen to be avoiding soy, making your own is the way to go!
I have had some pretty epic fails in cooking. Mostly in the area of baking, but veggie burgers have proven to be a formidable opponent. I have learned a few things through my failures and I would like to share them with you.

First of all, all of my great successes have involved a food processor. They enable me to puree the beans to actually act as a binder in my burgers. If you don't have a food processor you should go get one, or borrow one.


The dough or batter (or whatever) should have a dense, thick consistency, like cookie dough....mmmmm cookies...,dagnabbit now I want a cookie.
Be right back.......

Thirdly, chill your dough! I find it's best to make veggie burgers in big batches. I do it on a scheduled day that I don't have much else going on. I make the dough the night before and leave it in the fridge. It gives the flavors a chance to blend, and I have an easier time shaping the patties.

The dough should be easy to shape into patties. If it is falling apart in your hand it will fall apart on the grill.

After taking this picture I allowed myself a few minutes to snicker about how it looks like I'm holding a doodie. I will allow you the same....have I mentioned how mature I am? Are we all done then? Good.

Last but not least, you want your grill, or frying pan hot when you put the patties on.

I hope this helps some. Pictured in these photos are some smokey chipotle black bean burgers, I will hopefully be getting around to putting a recipe up sometime later this week. It's a OAMC recipe so if you are wary of veggie burgers I would suggest trying it (or another recipe) in small batches. See what you and your family like. Then if you have a couple of hours that you can set aside, make the whole recipe to keep in the freezer for quick meals.

Grilled Asparagus Sandwich...

This is a grilled asparagus sandwich with garlic-ginger butter mozzarella and balsamic vinegar....but really that is much too long of a title for a blog, so "grilled asparagus sandwich" it is! This is my consolation for my husband never being home. He works very long hours, on a good day (that he is working) I might see him for three hours. On a bad day I "see" him for about twenty minutes, which is usually long enough for him to do crowd control so that I can take a shower. Some days, though we live together, I don't even see him at all. And today...on his day off...he is working at the local food bank. Have I mentioned my husband is Ahhhmazing? I try not to complain, because really it could be worse. He is here, living with me, and about once or twice a year we go on a daaa, deeeeeee, diiiiii....what's that word again...oh yes a "date".

Also it's hard to feel bitter and angry when your husband is defending our freedom while at work, and feeding the hungry in his time off. In an effort to dwell on the positive I have compiled a small list of things that are good about his absences. One would be how grateful we are after a long week apart, one would be watching chick flicks and other such movies that would normally provoke groans, sighs, and him eventually changing the netflix password....again.
Lastly, this sandwich. My husband doesn't like asparagus....


....or so I thought...
...until I wrote this blog...and read it to him.
And he said, "No honey, I like asparagus"...
So I must have been confused, which I must confess isn't too surprising.

For the sake of believing that this sandwich is another tally on the "things that I enjoy while the hubster is away" list, I am going to pretend he never said that. You can too...
that's really not a suggestion.

I grilled the asparagus, brushed it with olive oil, and sprinkled it with salt about half way through.
I Spread some garlic-ginger butter on ciabatta bread, added slices of mozzarella cheese. Once the asparagus was fully cooked I added it to the sandwich...*...drizzled balsamic vinegar over the whole thing, and took a really bad picture with my cell phone.
It was delicious!



* insert: arranged the bread so you can't tell that I burned the heck out of it

Garlic Ginger Butter

This is the story
of a stick of butter
and a boy who was hungry for a snack
So his Daddy handed him a stick of butter
And this is what it looked like when his Mommy snatched it back

Well if you aren't hungry now, I just don't know what I can do to tempt you further. I am most certainly a fan of butter. However, I am not as big of a fan as my son. Eating it plain, now that's devotion. I am sure it means he will be the next Julia Child or something equally grand....

I am not going to suggest you try eating plain butter, but I HIGHLY (see the caps, that's huge for me) suggest you try this recipe. It's four little ingredients, but it's big on taste. The ginger transforms the garlic butter (a favorite condiment of mine) into something with a little lighter and more refreshing taste. This was fabulous as a dip for artichoke and grilled asparagus spears. I suspect it would be just as nummy on steamed broccoli or a crusty bread.

If you like strong flavors (the hubster and I do) you can add an extra garlic clove and an extra 1/4 tsp ginger. As written though, I believe it would be suitable for most people who do not wish to go around smelling like Gilroy.

1/2 cup butter softened
2 cloves pressed garlic
1/2 tsp minced ginger
Salt to taste (I used a little under 1/4 tsp)

Mix together the first three ingredients and add salt to taste....what have you got to lose?? Go try it now!

I'm comin' out....

hullo there

If I were nifty and technocapable you would now be listening to "I'm Coming Out", by the lovely Miss Diana Ross. Sadly, I am only nifty and indeed very far from technocapable.* So I'd like everyone to take a moment to get the song good and stuck in their head before we move on. shall we.....


I'm coming out. I want the world to know.....


good...we all there yet? Now just keep that as sort of a background noise while we continue.


Yes there are changes a coming for my blog, and the first step is to put a face to my posts........that doesn't sound right at all. So in addition to masses and masses of cell phone food pics, you now behold before you the obligatory "here I am with my head turned slightly to the side, and yes I took this by meself" cell phone picture. I may even get up the guts to tell my family and friends I have a blog. I am also working on a (for real this time) welcome to my blog...blog. I know you are on the edge of your seat with anticipation, don't even try to hide it.

Stay tuned for more food blogs. I promise I haven't run out of recipes. I have just run out of energy what with all the germs we have been swapping around the house lately.


*I am however quite adept at making up words when the mood strikes.

Rest in Peace....my rice cooker

Today is a very sad day. Today marks the end of my Rival rice cooker. I loved my Rival rice cooker. I have had it for about two years, but because we used it every other day (if not every day) I am sure we got about ten years of normal people use out of the thing. For fifteen bucks you really can't ask for much more. Yes those Rival rice cookers are quite the deal. And it didn't even really break, I just managed to scratch the non-stick surface with my ring....boo.

OK, so I am saying "Rival rice cooker" a lot, I know. I am not going to lie. I not so secretly hope they send me a free one....it could happen. But in all seriousness, I am very disappointed. And in the event that I don't receive a package of free goodies from Rival I will go out and buy a new one....from a store...sigh. Because I had big plans for my rice cooker, she and I were going to hit the road together...see the world (or at least California). "Rice Cooker on the Road"....ya, we could have been famous.

It really makes perfect sense to take a rice cooker on the road when you think about it. Rice travels well, you can mix in other non perishable items like lentils and boxed veggie broth to make healthy meals where ever you go. Plus rice cookers are easy clean up, and my Rival even steamed veggies!

OK....so I'm done plugging Rival....for now. But maybe if you all click on one of the several links I have provided the people down at Rival will be like "Whoa, look at this out of 5,000 visits today six were from this blog". Then they will come to my blog and be blown away by my wit and charm. And then they will have to send me a new rice cooker....






*whispers*....rival


P.S. My camera broke so.....Cannon....hey a girl can dream