Showing posts with label quick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quick. Show all posts

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Portobello With Caramelized Onions & Goat Cheese

A turkey burger with sweet potato fries has pretty much become a staple when I'm planning my meals out. I'm always looking for something new to add to my repertoire, though, and I felt inspired after watching an episode of The Chew at the gym where they made a "portobello blue cheese sandwich." I thought I'd make my own version and I liked this recipe because it didn't involve exact measurements of ingredients. I also left out the bun since that's always the first thing to get cut from my budget and diet.




What You Need: 
1 Portobello Mushroom
1 Small Onion
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Goat Cheese
Sugar
Salt and Pepper







What You Do:

1. Scrape the gills out of the under side of the portobello mushroom cap. The gills are the dark brown, wispy "stuff" for lack of a better word seen below. I made sure that the stem was trimmed down but did not remove it - it cooked down just fine for me. 



2. Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar in the mushroom and spread it around. I made a few shallow cuts into the mushroom to help it marinate and absorb the oil and vinegar more easily. Then, season it with salt and pepper.

3. Cook on medium heat uncovered for 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for another 1-2 minutes.

4. Add the caramelized onions and goat cheese to the underside of the mushroom and cover. Add a splash of water so that the immediate steam helps melt the cheese quickly.

5. Uncover and serve.



I didn't have any arugula when I made this but I would recommend topping with some greens and serving with a side of roasted brussels sprouts. You could also use a toasted bun to make it a real burger wannabe!


*For the caramelized onions, saute thinly sliced onions in a pan with oil over medium-high heat. As they soften and become translucent in color, add a pinch of sugar so that they caramelize nicely.

Do you have any alternatives to standard burgers? Please share!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Quick and Easy Scallop Appetizer

Last week, I made a quick & easy appetizer to share with friends. I wanted something simple but elegant since it was to kick off New Year's Eve so I decided to take a page - or in this case recipe - straight out of my mom's (cook)book. The result was a delicious scallop appetizer served on a baguette and seasoned with dill.



What you need: 

1/2 lb. Fresh Scallops
5 oz. Shredded Swiss Cheese
Mayonnaise
1 Baguette
Pepper
Dill



What you do:

1. Rinse the scallops and coarsely chop them up into small pieces.

2. In a bowl, mix the scallops with a large spoonful of mayo, the shredded swiss cheese and a pinch of dill. It should be tuna consistency when you're done mixing.


3. Cut the baguette into thin slices (about 1/2 an inch thick) and evenly spread the slices out on a cookie sheet.

4. Spoon a good size scoop of the mixture onto each baguette slice laid out on the cookie sheet.












5. Bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

6. Once 15 minutes is up, garnish each with a sprinkle of shredded swiss and dill and pop under the broiler for another minute to crisp up the top of each.


My boyfriend couldn't even keep his hands off long enough for me to take a picture! Hope you enjoy and let me know how yours come out!