Stuffed Mushrooms

Tonight was something I just kind of made up and hoped that it turned out ok. We had grilled portabello mushroom caps stuffed with a spinach ricotta mixture. Some short grain brown rice and a spinach salad.

For the mushrooms, preheat the oven to 350. Remove the gills, drizzle with olive oil and place gill side up on grill pan (or outdoor grill if weather permits), turning once the tops of the mushrooms are grilled. While the mushrooms are grilling you can whip up the stuffing. For 3 good sized mushroom caps you will need one 15 oz container of part skim ricotta cheese, one 10 oz box of frozen spinach, thawed, and about 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, plus salt and pepper to taste. Once the mushrooms are grilled transfer them to a baking dish, fill each mushroom with equal parts stuffing, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and plain bread crumbs and bake until tops are beginning to turn golden brown.

The rice was left over from my chickpea patties last night, I just nuked it with about a cup of veggie stock. When it was heated through and stock was absorbed I added in 3 pats of butter and salt and pepper to taste, then sprinkled with dried oregano to serve. And, well, the salad is self explanatory and was dressed with a slurry of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

The mushrooms were fantastic, just as I had hoped they would be. True to her nature, Mairin refused to try them, and because of Stella's dairy issues I couldn't even offer them to her. But, Rob and I both liked them and I will be preparing them again in the future, as they were so quick and easy.


I also cooked some seitan today, for a barbecued seitan dish I will be making later in the week. I've never cooked seitan before (actually, I've never even eaten it before), so I don't know if this is what the finished product is supposed to look like or not (anyone else know?). When it was cooled I cut a little piece off of the corner to taste, and it tasted really good, but I think it will be better barbecued. If it turns out well I'm going to be making some fried "chicken" with it soon.

And finally, those chickpea patties Rob forgot to take to work, well guess who ate them for lunch. You guessed it, me. The leftover gravy had kind of solidified and looked really yucky, so I threw it out and ate the patties on a whole grain bun with some dijon mustard and sliced onion. They were incredible, and will be served this way next time I make them.