Colorful Weeknight Chicken

After being in the office a total of 6 days during the month of December, last week it was finally time to return to reality. I like my job, I really do, but being away for long stretches of time always leaves me a little sad when it finally has to come to an end. No more running at my leisure, spending the day baking, and impromptu cuddles with my Aussie.

Luckily, winter had other ideas and come Tuesday morning (I work from home on Mondays), snow graced my fair city and I found myself working from the comfort of my home office yet again instead of making the dreaded trek to Bethesda as snow pelted the streets around me. A post-Christmas miracle.

I'm not gonna lie, being at home an extra day definitely had its pluses. I got to put the 3 plus hours that I otherwise would've spent committing into my work and my beloved Shepherd dog was able to spend some time in the snow (her favorite of the weather elements....after a warm summer's day) breaking in her new Christmas coat.

It was all fun and games until the freezing temperatures started to cause the snow to freeze between her delicate paws. She owns, but refuses to wear snow boots.

Perhaps the best thing to come out of my impromptu work from home day was that I got to break out a new recipe for Tuesday dinner date night (and we got to eat before 8:00 for once since I wasn't flying home in a frenzy). Everyone wins! 

I spent most of last year returning to meat. It was a long time coming and I'm glad to be back on (or off depending on your perspective) the wagon. Because my quest to finally learn to cook came during my time as a vegetarian, I realized last year that I had only minimal experience cooking meat, most of which was gained during my college years when my food standards were very different. It also doesn't help matters that I still tend to gravitate towards non-meat recipes when I'm cooking and save my meat allotment for the week for dining out. [It's not really that regimented, but it sometimes feels like that].  So, in 2015 I've vowed to cook more meat in the home. 

This recipe was great for both helping me to meet that goal and for incorporating my FOTY circa 2013 into the dish. Artichokes are something that I've come to like thanks to 2013, but I still don't seek them out as much as I should. My real joy in this meal came from the abundance of colors. Quite possibly the one cooking lesson that my mother imparted on me was an appreciation for a colorful plate. I may have squealed when this gem came together. 

Baked Chicken with Spinach and Artichokes

Ingredients
*Original recipe found here

• 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into thirds
• Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1 can (14-ounces) quartered artichokes, rinsed and drained
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 large carrot, sliced into thin rounds
• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 bag (6 to 8 ounces) baby spinach
• ½ cup vegetable broth

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 425 F and heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet on the stove top

2. Cut chicken breasts into thirds and season with salt and pepper

3. Add to skillet and brown on both sides (no need to cook all the way through, they're continue to cook during part 2)

4. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside on a plate for later

5. Add artichokes, onions, carrots, and garlic to the skillet and cook for 5 or so minutes, until veggies are slightly tender

6. Add chopped garlic and spinach, cooking for an additional minute and stirring occasionally

7. In a 9 x 13 baking pan, combine veggies, chicken, and broth

8. Place in oven and bake for approximately 18 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked

9. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes then plate and serve.

Cheers for an easy weeknight meal! Later in the evening I would learn the importance of not being talked into watching a pseudo-scary movie (the Shining) before bed. Cue dreams of creepy children coming out of walls.... 

Playing Host

I did it. This weekend I took the plunge and opened my home to guests (and by guest I mean friends of course). For Bax and I this was a pretty big and rare occurrence, we don't open our home to just anyone. Mostly this is due to the fact that while I enjoy the idea of entertaining (it's something I aspire to take on as an adult with an immaculate kitchen), my apartment is so tiny and I feel bad making people cram into it (I also don't believe that many could even fit inside if they wanted to). Alas, even with that caveat, the time finally came for me to open my home to a select few (after much analysis of the seating/space situation I decided 6, including me, was about the max) to not only see where most of the recipes on here transpired, but also to meet the elusive Baxter! 

Bax was all abuzz when I told her the news, which I was glad about as things like this can go either way with her (she has very strong opinions and is not afraid to let them be known). Since I love appetizers as dinner more than actual dinner (I like the ability to sample multiple things), everyone brought an app or dessert plus a beverage of their choosing (because the only thing I may in fact love more than food is wine) for an evening of basketball, food, and girl time. 

Bax's one request in having company was that they pay her in belly rubs. They obliged and she loved every minute of it. 

Perhaps my favorite part of gathering together friends is the opportunity to pull some new recipes out of the hopper (or off my Pinterest boards). Keeping with the app and dessert theme, I decided to try out one of each.

First up, a healthy twist on spinach and artichoke dip. I lamented the other day about my failure to conquer my current food of the year (the artichoke), so while I was happy to be incorporating it into a recipe, I already liked artichoke in this form so I don't technically count it as a step towards artichoke domination. Soon, though, I'm promising myself soon. 

Healthier Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients
Original recipe courtesy of Skinny Taste

• 1 jar (14 oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
• 1 box (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Preparation

1. After spinach has thawed (don't defrost in microwave, just leave it sit out at room temperature for a couple hours), squeeze out as much of the water as possible. I used this amazing invention/Christmas present (see below) but paper towels also work

Best invention ever.

It spins water out in a flash! 

2. In a food processor, combine artichoke hearts, spinach, garlic, and scallions. Blend until coarsely chopped

3. Combine, in a large bowl, spinach/artichoke mixture with the remaining ingredients. Dump mixture into crock pot, smoothing so that it evenly covers the bottom of the crock pot

This would probably be better in a smaller crock pot, it looked a little lost in mine

4. Cook in crock pot on high for 2 hours. [I chose this method of cooking because I wanted to just serve it out of the crock pot so it would stay warm]. You can also bake in the oven at 375 F for 20-25 minutes

Ready to eat

For the closing course, I dug into the stash of rolos that I had in the cabinet from my first foray into rolo baking a few weeks back and pulled a recipe from my favorite baking blog to create these:

Rolo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

Brought to my life courtesy of Sally's Baking Addiction

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened 
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar [if using salted peanut butter, reduce to 1/4 cup]
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup creamy unsalted peanut butter
• 1/4 tsp salt [omit if using salted peanut butter]
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 + 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 24 rolos

Preparation

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter with sugars

2. Add egg, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined

3. Mix in baking soda and flour, mixing until dough becomes moist and a dough ball is formed

4. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, unwrap rolos and cover cookie sheet with parchment paper

5. Once dough is chilled, scoop out 1 1/2 Tbsps of dough, create a pocket/hole in the middle of it, and insert rolo, gently molding dough around it to form a ball

6. Bake at 350 F for 9 minutes. Cookies will appear slightly underdone, but remove from oven and allow to cook completely on wire rack

*My aside is that I prefer this version of peanut butter cookies over the one above, so I may try that recipe with rolos at some point, but these were still another wonderful incorporation of rolos into my life!

Thanksgiving is Coming: Part 1

There's nothing I love more than a good 3-day weekend and this one came not a moment too soon. My sleep schedule was in shambles after election night and plummeted even further with some late nights at the beginning of the weekend. Thus, you can imagine the joy I felt when on Sunday I still had another day of weekend to catch up on sleep with (gotta love all the federal holidays this time of year). In an effort to not squander the entire day sleeping (or miss out on the gorgeous weather), I spent some time today walking with Bax and enjoying the leaves in the park and looking up some recipes for Thanksgiving dinner.

I will never get over how gorgeous the leaves are in fall

I love Thanksgiving so very much (I actually claim it as my favorite holiday) and it's been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember to one day (when I live in something bigger than my current studio apartment) host the event. Since my time as a host is still a ways off, I have settled for the next best thing: coordinating the menu. Last year this time I was just starting to focus on developing my culinary skills and undertook the task of creating a slew of desserts. They were all amazingly delicious and if I didn't love Thanksgiving food so much, I would've feasted on them as my meal. This year, I have no choice but to try and top last year's efforts (damn my competitive nature). In the meantime, I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's thinking about recipes for the big day and thus I wanted to share two delectable fall-inspired sides that I made recently that could also serve as a great addition to any Thanksgiving table.

Acorn Squash with Wild Rice and Veggies

This is one of those recipes that is great when you need to use up some extra vegetables before they go bad and can easily be tweaked depending on the season or taste preferences. I ate it as a meal, but the recipe could definitely be increased (based on crowd size) and used as a Thanksgiving side as well. 

Ingredients

• 1 package of long grain wild rice 
• 1 acorn squash, roasted
• 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
• 1/2 cup portobello mushroom slices
• 1-1 1/2 cups baby spinach
• 4-5 capellini tomatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Roast acorn squash either in the oven or crockpot. I used my pumpkin roasting crockpot method that I recently discovered and am currently obsessed with
2. Prepare rice according to package (usually takes about 25 minutes). With about five minutes left, I added my carrots to cook with the rice (but they could also be cooked in the skillet/wok as well)
3. Meanwhile, remove acorn squash from skin and discard skin (my only regret on this recipe is letting the squash cook for too long so that it was mushy rather than diceable...this is my punishment for not having a vision for the meal when I started cooking the squash)
4. Heat olive oil in wok or skillet, then add mushroom slices. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add in tomatoes and squash and continue to cook for an additional 4-5 minutes
5. Add in spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes. Cover and remove from heat to allow spinach to wilt
6. Once rice is cooked, mix with veggie mix in skillet, season and serve

Veggies post cooking (I also had to drain the excess water as a result of the squash not being as firm as it should've been...still good though)

Wild rice and carrots ready to eat

Giada's Roasted Veggies

Another great veggie side for the big day comes courtesy of my beloved Food Network. I had dinner with my parents over the weekend and offered to make these to accompany the fish my dad was preparing. They were a huge hit and would be a great easy, low stress addition to Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients

Courtesy of Giadá

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 medium carrots (about 3/4 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick circles
• 1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts (about 1/2 pound), halved
• 4 cups red bliss potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 3 medium parsnips (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 cup sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Wash and cut vegetables as mentioned above
3. Grease an 11 by 17-inch baking sheet pan with extra-virgin olive oil. Place vegetables in baking sheet and add the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Toss well, evenly coating all the vegetables with the seasonings and oil. Add more oil if the vegetables seem dry
4. Spread the vegetables evenly on a large baking sheet. Place on middle rack in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!

Thunderous Chickpea Salad

Basketball is back in my life, and more specifically, NBA basketball! I promise this isn't going to be a sports post (although I do have an unparalleled love for sports, especially football)! But I would be remised if I did not share my joy that not only is the NBA back in my life, but I actually have a team to cheer on in the playoffs! These are two HUGE accomplishments given how nonexistent the NBA has been in my life the last couple of years!


Growing up I LOVED basketball. My dad was a basketball player in high school and college and he started playing ball with me at a very young age. I can even remember the first time I sat myself down, determined to watch a basketball game in its entirety. Shaq still played for the Magic and I think it was one of the few times I cheered for him (he was never one of "my" players). My dad was thrilled to have someone to watch the game with, naturally, and my basketballness only grew over the years. Following in papa's footsteps, I tried my hand at basketball during my middle and early high school years before recognizing the writing on the wall: I was meant to watch basketball, not play it. It's ok, I'm much better for it. And so I watched it.


Unfortunately, since Oklahoma didn't have a NBA team at the time, I chose my favorite teams based on which players I liked the best. The only bad part about this was that, after Sir Charles, Reggie, and the others hung up their sneakers, I was left without a solid team to call my own. I wasn't too upset about it as I was deep in the throws of college by then and had plenty of Sooner football (and from time to time, basketball) to keep me happy. But after March Madness came to an end I always knew it was going to be a long, hot, sports-free summer until football returned (I'll interject here that being raised in a football state, baseball has never really been my jam; although living around several teams now, I do enjoy a good day at the ballpark from time to time). 


During my final years in Oklahoma, the Thunder came to town. I was in a somewhat anti-NBA point by then, so I only followed them from afar. In the years since their arrival, and with some prodding from TF, I've come to embrace them (I even regularly rock a Thunder shirt in the District). 


The only downside to cheering on the Thunder from DC is that they play in the western conference with many late start times for fans on the east coast (I'm old, I need my beauty rest). Since I'm notorious for falling asleep on the couch after a certain hour, I've taken to creating projects for myself while the game is on so that I can feel productive and make it through the game without falling asleep...I'm writing this post wide awake during Game 2 :) 


On Monday night, also known as the Game 1 beatdown of LA, I stumbled upon a delicious recipe that both kept me awake and helped me get out of my lunch rut! Pinterest to the rescue once again! Sorry, as I read back through this post I'm realizing it's more sports-heavy than I intended, so for that I apologize. I also apologize if I just bored you to death with my inane ramblings about my life and basketball. Hopefully this recipe will make up for it!


Chickpea Cilantro-Lime Salad
Inspiration found here


Ingredients

• One 15-oz can chickpeas (2 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
• 2 cups spinach
• Juice from 1.5 limes
• 3/4 cup fresh Cilantro
• 1/2 tsp sugar (or to taste)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt + ground pepper
• Tomatoes (died) *optional
• Cucumber (chopped in food processor) *optional

Preparation

1. In a food processor, add the spinach and pulse a few times until chopped very small. Add the processed spinach and drained chickpeas into a large bowl

2. In the food processor (no need to rinse the bowl!), add the lime juice, cilantro, sugar, garlic, cumin, and oil. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed

3. Pour the dressing on top of the spinach chickpea mixture and stir well. Chop cucumber in food processor until desired chunckiness, then add to mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let stand for about 10 minutes to let the flavours develop (or overnight, although the spinach gets a little soggy this way, but still good)

Enjoy and Thunder Up!

Creative Comfort

Even though the month of May is just barely getting started, I am already finding myself with a slew of busy weekends ahead of me. Consequently, this was my only weekend actually staying put in the District. Usually,I like to make the most of my increasingly few free weekends by trying out some new and fun recipes, but I went into the weekend exhausted and with no desire to do anything that would require the use of my oven. Yes, on top of everything else, summer has started to rear its ugly head in the District (there is no time of year in DC that I hate more than summer...between the heat and the influx of tourists, all I want to do is hunker down in my air conditioned apartment and pray for the arrival of fall, and even better, winter). Unfortunately, any time I bake it doesn't take long for my full size oven to flood my tiny studio apartment with enough heat to make me feel like I'm cooking on the sun. While I was initially not in the mood for dealing with the influx of heat in exchange for cooking, Sunday brought with it a slight cool down in temperatures and with it, my desire to cook returned. 


During a little pinterest browsing the other day I discovered a little piece of gnocchi heaven. I'll admit, gnocchi and I haven't spent much time together over the years. I actually just discovered it a few years back during my early months in DC. Although it was love at first taste, I haven't really sought it out much in the years since, and have never made on my own. During my monthly trip to the suburbs a few weeks back, I was pillaging the local Wegmans when I stumbled upon a delightful surprise: whole wheat gnocchi. Of course, I had to get it. Unfortunately, my multiple weeks of travel resulted in me never getting to try it, until now. I'd picked up some fun cheese at Trader Joe's on my way home from work the other day and it was the perfect accompaniment to my Sunday funday meal. 

Whole Wheat Gnocchi Mac and Cheese

[Original version found here]

Ingredients

• 1 pound purchased or homemade gnocchi
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan-Gouda reduced fat cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano 
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

Gnocchi cooked and topped with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, awaiting cheese :)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375. Prepare gnocchi according to package directions. Drain and place gnocchi in a single-layer in a 1-1/2 quart shallow baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Top with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes
2. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in flour until it thickens and bubbles, then whisk in milk. Continue to whisk mixture and cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes
3. Combine smoked gouda and parm-gouda, then add by the handful to milk mixture, stirring until melted before adding the next handful. Once all cheese is melted, season sauce with salt and pepper
4. Pour sauce over gnocchi and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano over top. Bake gnocchi until they puff and the cheese is golden and bubbly, about 25 minutes. Let gnocchi rest for 5 minutes before serving

Enjoy....and prepare for a very happy stomach! 

Veggies Meet Calzone

Another weekend away has come and gone and I'm actually looking forward to spending a little time at home in the District before the traveling starts up again in a few weeks. Before taking off for my weekend in Cleveland, I offered to make my parents dinner. They've been doing a lot of shuffling of me and my luggage (and Bax dog) to and from the airport at all hours of the day, so I figured it was the least I could do. Selfishly, my offer to make dinner also allowed me to add another recipe to my repertoire, and use up the extra bag of spinach that was taunting me from the fridge.


In the years leading up to becoming a vegetarian, I parted with different meats at different times. The first to go was pepperoni. Pepperoni and my stomach were not made to be together and in the 10 or so years we've been apart, there is only one time that I miss it: when a calzone crosses my path. I used to love a good calzone more than anything. I also used to be able to put food away like no other and (in hindsight) shamefully could eat an entire calzone ring (a la my beloved Mazzios) by myself. I have yet to find a cheese or veggie calzone that mirrors the pepperoni version I grew up with and, consequently, haven't had one in years. When looking for a fun way to use up my spinach, I discovered a recipe that satisfied both my quest for calzone and desire to cook with spinach. Double win.

Spinach Mushroom Calzones

Adapted from Cooking Light


Ingredients

• 1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust
• 4 garlic cloves, minced 
• 4 cups spinach leaves
• 8 (1/8-inch-thick) slices red onion
• 1 1/3 cups sliced cremini or button mushrooms
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Italian cheese blend

Prepped and awaiting cheese topping

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Unroll dough onto a baking and cut into 4 quarters
3. Pat each quarter into a 6 x 5-inch rectangle
4. Sprinkle garlic evenly over rectangles. Top each rectangle with 1 cup spinach, 2 onion slices, 1/3 cup mushrooms, and 3 tablespoons cheese
5. Bring 2 opposite corners to center, pinching points to seal. Bring remaining 2 corners to center, pinching all points together to seal
6. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until golden
7. Serve alone or with a side salad for added color :) 

Ready to bake

And scene.

Ramps Arrive

Admittedly, I still have a lot to learn when it comes to food. I have no formal (or informal for that matter) training in cooking and after fighting it for many years, I'm slowing starting to come around to the idea of cooking on a regular basis. Additionally, there are still many foods that have yet to grace my taste buds. I'm working to remedy this in part through my little FOTY (Food of the Year) program, but that is mostly reserved for the foods I peg as "more challenging" for me to develop a taste for. Other, less offensive foods if you will, have come into my life in recent years, but with little to no fan fare (ie: okra, brussels sprouts,tofu...the list is surprisingly extensive). I could not, however, let my first experience with ramps pass undocumented.


I first discovered ramps a few months ago while reading another food blog. The author was raving about how excited she was to have found ramps at the local farmer's market and couldn't wait to begin using them. Unfortunately, I was reading an old posting at the time and it was not yet ramp season in the real world. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, spring was alive and well (it's turned oddly cold in the District since), and ramps made an appearance at the Dupont farmer's market. I was thrilled. Unfortunately, the market is only open on Sundays and I've been out of town or preoccupied for the last couple, so this was my first weekend to go ramp shopping and, as with most things that the average person wouldn't find exciting, I was bursting with excitement and anticipation about my upcoming marketing expedition. 


Shepherd was equally excited about the day of cooking I had planned (not really, but I told myself she was and allowed her to stop at the dog park on the way back from the farmer's market as a reward for her good behavior) and accompanied me on my joyous expedition. I'd spent the past couple of days scouting recipes in my free time, hoping to find just the right dish for which to use ramps the first time. After much deliberation, I landed on pizza. As I've mentioned before, pizza is my happy food and since I hadn't made it in a while, I decided this was the perfect time for it to return to my life. Having never bought ramps before, but learning through my research that they are a foodie favorite, I was slightly nervous about supply and demand and worried we'd show up with no ramps to be found. Luckily, either I was so far behind the curve on this one that people are already over them (although I saw them in at least four dishes during dinner Saturday night, so I'm choosing to believe they're still in their hayday) or we were early enough that they hadn't all been snatched up, because we arrived to a table bursting will all the ramps I could ever want. I snatched up a bunch (hesitant to buy more than one the first go round least I end up hating them...although I was fairly certain that wouldn't be the case), as well as some other produce and then was on my way (mentally skipping with joy over my purchase). 

Part of my haul from the market...the radishes served as a cooking snack :)

So, as I mentioned, I chose pizza for my first ramp-based dish. I was drawn to this recipe because it also allowed me to use up some of the asparagus I'd purchased a few weeks back and tucked away in my freezer for safe keeping. To culminate this joyous occasion, I didn't have any dough pre-made, so Mr. Red got to join the party and breakout his dough hook for the first time! It was yet another delightful culinary experience.

Mr. Red getting some play time once again, this time breaking in the dough hook

White Cheese Pizza with Ramps (and other fun veggies)
[Adapted from The Kitchen Sink]


Ingredients

• 10 ramps (medium size)
• 8-10 asparagus spears
• 4-5 cherry tomatoes
• Baby spinach (1-2 cups)
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Olive oil (for brushing the crust)
• Whole wheat crust or dough (I used this recipe again, but omitted the rosemary, although in hindsight that would've been good too)

Ready to bake

Preparation

1. Roll out pizza dough, brush with olive oil and cook at 450F for 8-10 minutes
2. While dough is cooking, wash and cut veggies as desired
3. After removing dough from oven, cover with cheese and veggies, season with salt and pepper, and cook  at 400 F for 8-10 minutes 

The ramps did not disappoint, I'm officially a fan!

Nice to Meet You Quinoa

Since becoming a vegetarian a year ago, I am always on the prowl for new foods that will help me incorporate more protein into my diet. While browsing my beloved pinterest (I'm seriously obsessed with this site...it has, perhaps mistakenly, made me believe that I can make anything), I found a slew of recipes that incorporated quinoa. If there's one thing that draws me to a recipe, it's a good, colorful picture. And there they were, by the dozens! I brought some quinoa before the holidays, but I basically didn't cook anything that took longer than 5 minutes between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it went unused...until today.

During lunch, Alicia (a fellow food and running enthusiast with equally fun recipes you should check out) and I were comparing recipe ideas, as we often do, and she unintentionally planted the seed of making stuffed portobello mushrooms in my head. After lunch, it was all I could think out. I thought I could hold out until next week, but alas I could not and ended up stopping at the store on my way home to gather the few ingredients I didn't have for the wonderful creation I envisioned making in my kitchen this evening. 

I have a surprisingly good streak with recipes going, but lets be honest, it has to end soon...just not today! Today, I present to you my version of stuffed portobello mushrooms. They came two to a package and I will definitely be making the second one in the very near future. Another delicious and protein filled meal for the books.

Quinoa Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms [makes enough for 4-5 mushrooms]

Adopted from The Magazine of Yoga

Ingredients

• Portobello mushrooms (inside gills scooped out)
• 1/2 medium onion (diced)
• Garlic cloves (1-2 diced)
• 1 medium tomato (chopped)
• Baby spinach, uncooked (enough to create a layer on the inside of the mushroom)
• Quinoa (1 box, 4.8oz)--I had a quinoa/brown rice rosemary and olive oil blend on hand and used that
• Rosemary* (to taste) 
• Feta cheese (to top mushrooms with)
• Salt (to taste)
• Black pepper (to taste)
• Olive oil (for brushing mushrooms and sauteing veggies)

*I used this because the quinoa was already blended with it, and I love rosemary, but any herb can be used here

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Clean mushrooms and brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
2. Cover baking sheet with foil (lots of liquid will come out of the mushrooms during cooking) and bake mushrooms for 10-15 minutes on each side
3. Cook quinoa according to instructions 
4. While mushrooms are baking, sauté onions and garlic until tender (2-3 minutes)
5. Add chopped tomatoes, season with salt, pepper, and rosemary; sauté til tender 
6. When mushroom and quinoa are done, combine onion/garlic/tomato mixture with quinoa. Layer the inside of the mushroom with baby spinach (I left it uncooked because it cooks so quickly, but it's your choice). Top spinach with quinoa mix and feta cheese. (I also sprinkled a little rosemary on top the feta, but again, I love this stuff). 
7. Broil filled mushrooms for 2-3 minutes, until feta starts to brown

This recipe is very versatile and can pretty much be edited depending on what you're in the mood for or what veggies are in season. Enjoy!