Portobello Mushroom fajitas

I finally made it into my favorite store tonight - the produce bin in the refrigerator was down to some Brussels sprouts (on the stalk) and half a cabbage.  I am creative but I am not a miracle worker.  Clearly some fresh produce was in order.  Since it's Tuesday and that's means Mexican food I decided to pick up portobello mushrooms and red bell peppers for fajitas.  Everything went together quickly and alongside some refried beans topped with an extra sharp cheddar (baked in the oven at 450 for about 15 minutes) and some fresh fruit, we had an easy, but good dinner.

Portobello Mushroom Fajitas

2 large portobello mushroom caps, stem removed and cleaned

2 bell peppers, cut into strips

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado, thinly sliced

shredded cheddar

hot sauce or salsa

salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

Saute the mushrooms slices in a small amount of oil until they release their moisture and start to brown.  Add onions and peppers, salt and some red pepper flakes and more oil if necessary.  Once everything is browned serve them in corn tortillas that have been warmed and top with cheddar, sliced avocado and hot sauce or salsa to taste.

Tomorrow I plan to post more about my favorite little store so stay tuned!

Flatbread pizza with grilled pears, gorgonzola and arugula

One of my favorite ways to make an easy pizza is with lavash flatbread.  Most grocery stores carry lavash these days (at least around here) and in no time at all you can have a crispy pizza, hot out of the oven.  This one came about when I looked through the fridge and found a small container of gorgonzola, some arugula and in the fruit bowl - two pears.  

Flatbread pizza with grilled pears, gorgonzola and arugula

2 pieces lavash bread (I use the one's from Trader Joe's about 14" x 10")

spray oil

2 pears

4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola

a handful of arugula

First, I sliced the pears and grilled them on my panini maker - just sprayed the grill with a little oil and then cooked the pears until they had grill marks on each side.  Put the lavash on a cookie tray and spray with some olive oil then distribute the pears evenly on the two pieces of bread.  Sprinkle the gorgonzola evenly and put the the cookie sheets in a hot oven (450 degrees) for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and the edges are crispy and browned.  When they come out of the oven add the fresh arugula to the pizzas.  

I love the sweetness of the pears with the peppery arugula.  I'll definitely be making this again!

FAIL

Well I made it six days into the month with daily blogging and I blew it yesterday!  I had a good excuse though - my broken heart after the Ducks lost to Stanford.  Our defense was sort of a "Where's Waldo" only we never did find it...poor Ducks.  But hats off to Stanford for a great game - we know how exciting that big win felt!  Being a "glass half full" kind of girl I prefer to focus on the fact that I had a great day out in the sunshine with my hubby, my brother (who flew into town for the game) and two of our good friends.  Even got to see a friend I haven't seen since high school.  He is a grandparent.  Ouch.  I am old!

So back in the saddle...both for blogging and for my Ducks.  quack.

Vegetarian Crockpot Chili

Tonight is movie night with our fellow empty nesters (two other couples in the neighborhood - we've formed our own little secret society- shhhhh).   Anyway, we're watching "Across the Universe" - one of my favorites.  I realize it's basically a two hour long music video but I love it anyway!  I made a pot of vegetarian chili and we are set to go.  I know I've posted this recipe before but it really is a good chili recipe - especially for serving to non-vegetarians - they always seem to like it!

Vegetarian Chili

1 large onion, chopped

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

¾ ounce ground cumin seed

1 ounce plain chili powder

2 tablespoons dijon style mustard

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons dried dill

2 tablespoons dried parsley

2 tablespoons red wine

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 6 ounce can tomato paste

2 28 ounce cans chopped tomatoes (do not drain)

2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup TVP (texturized vegetable protein)

1 small can sliced black olives

water as needed

Combine everything except olives in crockpot and cook on high for about 4 hours then reduce to low for another 4 hours or so. Add olives about an hour before you’re ready to serve. The longer it cooks, the better it tastes.

Serves: 6-8

Adapted from Silver Palate Cookbook “Chili for a Crowd”

GO DUCKS!!!!

My favorite time of year

Fall is my favorite time of year - I love the weather, gearing up for the holidays, college football, even the getting-dark-early evenings.  There are many things I already miss about summer - mainly the fruit.  But today I had a perfect pear.  It was perfectly ripe - sweet and delicious.  And by the time I'm tired of pears it will be time for berries and melons once more.  I also got to watch a beautiful sunset -a very good day:

Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese and Almonds

We are nearing the end of a prolific fig season.  Our trees overflowed and the squirrels were overjoyed.  We had an invite for drinks and appetizers at a friend's house one night and I was scrambling at the last minute to find something to bring - I googled fresh fig appetizer and came upon this recipe at allrecipes.com:

Elegant Fig Appetizers with Goat Cheese and Almonds

Ingredients

• 12 fresh figs, halved
• 4 ounces herbed goat cheese (chevre)
• 24 almonds
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven broiler for high heat.
2. Place the fig halves, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Top each half with about 1/2 teaspoon goat cheese. Place one almond on each, press to push the cheese slightly into each fig.
3. Broil the figs in the preheated oven until the cheese is soft and the almonds are turning a rich shade of brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the broiler and let cool for 5 minutes. Arrange the figs on a serving platter and drizzle with honey and balsamic vinegar. Serve warm.

I made it pretty much as written except I substituted slivered almonds for the whole almonds.  Wow.  We all loved this and I think I made it five or six times over the next couple of weeks.  I've made it with the herbed goat cheese and with plain.  Also made it with peppered goat cheese - all with great results.  I was a little loose with the amounts of honey and balsamic vinegar - just made sure each one got a little bit.  These go together so quickly and taste so good.  Some of the reviewers even said they made it with dried figs - I'll have to try it that way because I'm not sure I can wait until next fall to have these again!

Crispy Veggie Tacos

One of my very favorite places to eat in the bay area is Cactus Taqueria.  When I get my hair done in Berkeley it is a ritual - hair, then tacos.  The neighborhood where I get my hair done has so many good restaurants - Indian, Thai, even Zachary's Pizza (deep dish spinach and mushroom - yum!).  But every single time - I go and get my tacos.  They have crispy veggie tacos - grilled vegetables, cheese, guacamole, salsa and lettuce.  I would be too embarrassed to ever have more than one order (I mean, it's a plate with three tacos!) but I swear, I could do it.

I've never been into frying anything at home but sometimes the craving for those tacos is too strong to wait for the next haircut.  So one day I decided to make my own oven baked version.  I roasted some vegetables in the oven - some broccoli, zucchini and carrots - tossed with some olive oil and roasted in a 450 degree oven.  Once the veggies were nice and brown I warmed up some corn tortillas on the stovetop and then filled them with the veggies and some monterey jack cheese.  I folded them over and spray both sides with some olive oil spray  I put these in the oven for maybe 15 minutes or so, until the tortillas were brown and crispy.  Once out of the oven I pried them open and filled them with guacamole, salsa verde, chopped tomatoes and thinly slice romaine.  They were almost as good as the restaurant version - really, just as good for me - and there was no oil dripping out as we ate them.

Taco Tuesdays are still in effect in this empty nest and these definitely fit the bill!