Mushroom and Black Bean Tortilla Casserole

I also made this dish for our neighborhood potluck this evening.  I wasn't sure how it would go over, but I was determined to make a meatless main dish with some ingredients I already had on hand (black beans and home-canned salsa).  It got a thumbs up!

Source:  Everyday Food magazine, January/February 2011

2 t. extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 lb. cremini or button mushrooms, trimmed and quartered*

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

coarse sea salt and ground pepper

1 1/2 c. cooked black beans or 1 can (15.5 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained

8 corn tortillas, warmed and halved

2 c. salsa

1 1/4 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 oz.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high.  Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until browned, 7 minutes.  Add garlic and cayenne; season with salt and pepper.  Add black beans and stir to combine.  Cook until beans are warmed through, 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Arrange 5 tortilla halves in a 2-quart baking dish.  Top with half the bean mixture and 1/2 c. salsa, then sprinkle with one-third the cheese.  Repeat with another layer of tortilla halves, bean mixture, salsa, and cheese.  Top with remaining tortilla halves, salsa, and cheese.

Cover with foil and bake until center is hot and cheese melts, 10 minutes.  Uncover and bake until cheese is bubbling, 5 minutes.

* I recently read a tip in Martha Stewart Living that the easiest and most effective way to clean mushrooms is to swish them in a bowl of water, then drain them and allow them to dry before using them in your recipe.  I've always tried to clean mushrooms by wiping them individually with a damp paper towel.  I agree - this method is far more effective and definitely quicker!

Yield: 4 Servings

Garlic Scape Pesto and Mushroom Pizza

Yummo!

Source:  MyKitchenAddiction.com

Dough for one large 15-inch pizza

1 c. garlic scape pesto

4 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 oz. Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

4 oz. sliced portobello mushrooms

Italian seasoning or fresh herbs

Place a pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven and preheat to 475 degrees.

On a large piece of parchment paper, spread the pizza dough out to be as thick or thin as you like.  Spread the pesto on top of the dough.  Then, top with the cheeses, and arrange mushrooms on top of the pizza.  Sprinkle seasoning or herbs on top of the pizza.

Use a pizza peel to transfer the pizza (still on the parchment paper) to the preheated pizza stone.  Bake for 12-15 min., or until the pizza crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.

Garlicky Green Beans with Mushrooms

I've been using this recipe all winter with green beans from the freezer - tastes great with both fresh or frozen green beans!

Source: adapted from allrecipes.com

2 1/2 lbs. fresh green beans, trimmed

2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

2 T. onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 t. butter

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

Steam green beans until crisp-tender.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute mushrooms, onion and garlic in butter until tender.  Drain beans; add to skillet.  Stir in salt and pepper; heat through.

Serves 8

Fried Eggs with Greens and Mushrooms

OK, not the easiest recipe to get a good photo of since the cast iron skillet and the greens are both dark, but it was actually quite beautiful.  Maybe I was swayed by the fact that I was using my mom's skillet; for some reason, I find using it very comforting - always makes me think of those yummy potato cakes out of leftover mashed potatoes that I simply cannot figure out how to make like she did.  (This recipe actually calls for a cast iron skillet!)  Anyway, this is a nice main dish recipe if you're trying to incorporate more cooked greens in your diet and you like one-dish meals.

Source:  Martha Stewart Living magazine

Sage-Chile Butter:

4 T. unsalted butter

1 T. small sage leaves

1/4 t. crushed red-pepper flakes

Eggs and Greens:

2 T. olive oil

10 oz. mushrooms, sliced

coarse sea salt

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

6 c. cooking greens (I used Swiss chard), cut into 3/4"-wide ribbons

2 T. water

2 T. unsalted butter

4 large eggs

finely grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

Sage-Chile Butter:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add sage and red-pepper flakes.  Simmer until sage is crisp, about 3 min.

Eggs and Greens:

Heat a large, heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) over high heat.  Swirl in oil.  Cook mushrooms with 1/2 t. salt until golden and tender, 4-5 min.  Stir in garlic, then greens and water.  Cook, stirring, until greens wilt.  Add butter, stir until melted.

Push greens to make 4 wells.  Crack 1 egg into each.  Season with salt.  Cook for 4 min.  Let stand until whites are set, but yolks are still runny, about 4 min.  Drizzle with sage-chile butter.  Garnish with cheese.

Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry

My fellow gardening neighbors were heading out of town for a few days, so they rang the door bell this morning and handed over some sugar peas from their garden that needed to be consumed.  I planted sugar SNAP peas this year, but no sugar peas, so this was quite the treat!  This recipe is perfect for spring veggies, including these baby carrots:

Actually, the carrots never got a chance to grow up since I needed to pull them to make space for the yellow squash plant that is starting to sprawl into the carrots' territory! 

Source:  Adapted from allrecipes.com

2 T. cornstarch

1 c. chicken stock

1 T. soy sauce

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into strips

5 c. cut-up vegetables (such as broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, celery, red or green peppers and green onions)

1/4 t. ground ginger

1 clove garlic, crushed

4 c. hot cooked brown rice

salt and pepper to taste

Mix cornstarch, chicken stock and soy sauce.

In a large non-stick skillet, stir-fry chicken in hot oil until browned.  Remove chicken.

Add vegetables, ginger and garlic powder and stir-fry until crisp-tender.

Stir stock mixture and add.  Cook and stir until mixture boils and thickens.  Return chicken to skillet and heat through.  Serve over rice.

Yield:  4 Servings

My Notes:

For the veggies, I used broccoli, baby carrots and green onions from my garden, some local mushrooms, and my neighbor's sugar peas - so very cool!  :)

For the chicken, I simply used a roasted chicken breast from the freezer.

And, the chicken stock was home canned.  :)

Mother's Classic Spinach Salad

I love mushrooms, so this is the perfect spinach salad for me!

 

Source:  Mother

 

Dressing:

3/4 c. oil

1/2 c. sugar

1 t. dried onion

1/3 c. ketchup

1/4 c. vinegar

Add ingredients to a pint jar and shake until blended.

 

Salad:

1 bag raw fresh spinach

1 pt. fresh mushrooms

1/2 lb. bacon, fried crispy, then crumbled

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped.

 

Toss salad ingredients.  Add dressing just before serving.

 

Serves 6-8

 

Mushroom & Asparagus Frittata

This is so simple, it hardly warrants being considered a recipe, but it was good!  It's basically a simpler variation of the Mushroom Spinach Frittata from last spring.

sliced mushrooms

asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" lengths

3 eggs, lightly beaten

sea salt and pepper to taste

Simply saute the mushrooms and asparagus in butter until almost tender, then pour eggs over top.  Cook over low heat until eggs are set.  If desired, slide frittata out of pan onto plate, invert, and slide back into pan to brown top.

Sauteed Chicken with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Today's recipe was a tad bit on the boring side, but still good.  I served it over red quinoa - I'm hooked on that grain!

Source:  marthastewart.com

1 T. olive oil

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6), cut into 2" pieces

1 lb. button mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 lbs. asparagus, tough ends removed, cut into 2" lengths

1 c. water

coarse sea salt and pepper

cooked noodles or rice (optional)

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook in two batches, turning occasionally, until browned and opaque throughout, 6-8 minutes; transfer to a plate.

To skillet, add mushrooms, asparagus, and water; season with salt and pepper.  Cook, tossing once and scraping up browned bits, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 4-6 minutes.  Add chicken; cook, tossing, until warmed through, about 2 minutes.  Serve on top of noodles or rice, if desired.

Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto

To give the Gourmet Mushroom Risotto recipe below a new twist, simply cut asparagus stalks on the diagonal into 1" lengths, steam lightly (2-4 minutes), and add to the risotto at the end.

Gourmet Mushroom Risotto

Source:  allrecipes.com

6 c. chicken broth, divided

3 T. olive oil, divided

1 lb. portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced*

1 lb. white mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 shallots, diced*

1 1/2 c. Arborio rice**

1/2 c. dry white wine*

sea salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 T. finely chopped chives

4 T. butter

1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a small saucepan, warm broth over low heat.

Warm 2 T. olive oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat.  Stir in mushrooms and cook until soft, about 3 min.  Remove mushrooms and their liquid and set aside.

Add 1 T. olive oil to skillet and stir in shallots.  Cook 1 min.  Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 min.  When rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until wine is fully absorbed.  Add 1/2 c. broth to the rice, and stir until broth is absorbed.  Continue adding broth 1/2 c. at a time, stirring continuously, until liquid is absorbed and rice is al dente, about 15-20 min.

Remove from heat; stir in mushrooms with their liquid, butter, chives and Parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

*My notes:

I used only white mushrooms instead of the two varieties.  I didn't have any shallots on hand, so I substituted 1 part garlic to 2 parts onion.  And, I skipped the white wine.  Still, a great recipe!

**The Arborio rice is the secret to the creamy, risotto texture.

Curried Pumpkin Mushroom Soup

Source:  J. Hair/Southern Living 20th Anniversary Edition Cookbook

2 T. butter

½ c. chopped onion

1 8 oz. pkg sliced fresh mushrooms

2 T. flour

1 T. curry powder

3 c. chicken broth

2 c. pumpkin

½ t. salt

¼ t. pepper

¼ t. ground nutmeg

1 T. honey

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk

garnish: sour cream and chives

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add mushrooms and onions and cook until tender. Stir in flour and curry powder. Gradually add chicken broth and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in pumpkin and next 4 ingredients, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in evaporated milk; cook until heated. Garnish if desired.

Yield:  6-1/2 cups

Spinach Feta Pizza

Yummo!

Source:  Rose C., Taste of Home

Ingredients:

Prepared or homemade pizza crust

Topping:

1 garlic clove, minced

1/8 t. garlic salt

2 c. chopped fresh spinach

1 small red onion, sliced and separated into rings

1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

1 c. (4 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese

1/2 t. dried basil

Sprinkle pizza crust with garlic and garlic salt.  Top with the spinach, onion, mushrooms, cheeses and basil.  Bake at 400 deg. for 35-40 min. (less for pre-baked crust) or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.  Let stand for 5 min. before slicing. 

Yield:  6 slices

Strawberry Spinach Salad

This is a photo of today's strawberry harvest - just the right amount for this salad!

Adapted from Pampered Chef

Dressing:
1/4 c. vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 green onion, finely chopped
1/8 t. Worcestershire sauce

Salad:
1/2 pt. strawberries, sliced
1 (8-oz.) fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1 (10-oz.) bag fresh baby spinach leaves

For dressing, whisk all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. For salad, combine all salad ingredients in salad bowl. Add dressing to salad; toss.

Variation:
For a fall variation, substitute Red Delicious apples for the strawberries; dip apples in pineapple juice to prevent browning. Or, try pomegranates when in season – perfect at Christmas time!

Yield: 6-8 servings

Mushroom Spinach Frittata

Inspired by allrecipes.com

A fritatta is simply an open-faced omelet with other ingredients, such as cheese or vegetables, mixed into the eggs rather than used as a filling.

3-4 eggs

1 T. grated Parmesan cheese

1 T. shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 t. salt

1/8 t. crushed red pepper flakes

1/8 t. garlic powder

1/8 t. pepper

1 t. olive oil

1/2 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 green onion, sliced

1 c. fresh spinach, coarsely chopped