What's for Dinner: Sunday
Back again, finally! I suppose you can guess that Brad stole my laptop computer and went out of town for a week. As if getting some time with the computer wasn't hard enough, trying to get myself upstairs to use the office computer is practically impossible for anything other than 10 minutes at a time. I am catching back up on my menu for last week which is when we had this. I just hadn't gotten around to posting about it til now.
Portobello Salad with Mustard Dressing and "Spiked" Cheese and Herb Breadsticks
I really love this salad and mostly I love the mushrooms and the dressing. It is rather light but I made breadsticks to go with it so it wouldn't look all lonely on the plate and give a few more calories to fill up with. Also, what the hey, strawberries are in season so we had them as a side as well with a little whipped cream.
I have a basic breadstick recipe that I use but I decided to get a little creative and make the breadsticks even more chock full of nutritiousness thus the name "spiked" because I don't think you would really know what you were eating unless I told you and because I added some more herbs to make them a bit more interesting. I think next time I will add some frozen finely chopped spinach even. It helps to be devious with food when one of your kids only eats a handful of things. You have to make those things really count. These were so yummy.
The salad is an adaptation from one in my absolute favorite cookbook "Veganomicon" but I change the dressing quite a bit. I think the dressing in the cookbook is too strong. Also, when I made the roasted portobellos I almost drank the leftover marinade, it was so good. I thought it was rediculous to let something so tasty just go down the drain so I incorporated it into the dressing.
So, for the salad you will need:
about 6-7 cups of romain lettuce chopped
1/2 an avocado peeled (I didn't use the avocado this time because I forgot to add it to my grocery list so we had to go without but every time I have made a variation of this in the past I have included it, it's really a must have here)
a few thin dices of red onion (however much you like)
1 cup chickpeas cooked
2 roasted and sliced portobellos
For the roasted portobellos
Combine the marinade in a small bowl:
1/2 cup cooking wine
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
2-3 portobello mushroom caps
Lay the mushrooms rib side up in a loaf pan and pour the marinade over them trying to keeo as much inside the caps as possible. Allow them to sit about 20 minutes. In the meantime heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil and bake about 30 minutes. Remove the foil, flip the caps over and continue to bake another 10 minutes. Try to keep the caps warm and slice them over the salad just before serving. Reserve the leftover marinade.
Dressing:
3 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs maple syrup or honey
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
3 Tbs dijon mustard
1/2 cup reserved mushroom marinade
Arrange 2 plates of salad, lettuce on the bottom, onions, chickpeas, avocado, and last the sliced mushrooms. Pour over the desired amount of dressing.
"Spiked" Breadsticks
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
4 tsp. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp powdered garlic
about 1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup walnuts
about 4 Tbs flax seeds
1/2 cup shredded cheese
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. In a blender combine the milk, walnuts, and flax seeds and blend until all the flax seeds and walnuts are pureed. I say "about" 1 1/4 cups of milk because I usually only blend 1 cup and put the 1/4 cup aside to add as needed to get the right consistency. Pour the wet into the dry and also the cheese and knead with your fingers adding the extra milk as neccessary. This is not a yeast dough so the consistency should be a bit more wet, as wet as you can manage without making the dough such that you can't form it into breadsticks. I am slowly getting better at getting this right but it's never the same each time I make it. It is just a matter of paying attention to how sticky the dough is. On occasion I have had to add a bit more flour to make it right. Once you have the right consistency knead the dough a bit to activate the gluten. Form the dough into about 12-15 breadsticks depending on the size you like.
Bake them at 425 degrees for around 10 minutes. It will vary depending on the size of your breadsticks and also what kind of oven you have but do your best to pull them out as soon as they look baked through. You don't want them getting too dry which they do quickly if you bake them too long.
Enjoy!
Portobello Salad with Mustard Dressing and "Spiked" Cheese and Herb Breadsticks
I really love this salad and mostly I love the mushrooms and the dressing. It is rather light but I made breadsticks to go with it so it wouldn't look all lonely on the plate and give a few more calories to fill up with. Also, what the hey, strawberries are in season so we had them as a side as well with a little whipped cream.
I have a basic breadstick recipe that I use but I decided to get a little creative and make the breadsticks even more chock full of nutritiousness thus the name "spiked" because I don't think you would really know what you were eating unless I told you and because I added some more herbs to make them a bit more interesting. I think next time I will add some frozen finely chopped spinach even. It helps to be devious with food when one of your kids only eats a handful of things. You have to make those things really count. These were so yummy.
The salad is an adaptation from one in my absolute favorite cookbook "Veganomicon" but I change the dressing quite a bit. I think the dressing in the cookbook is too strong. Also, when I made the roasted portobellos I almost drank the leftover marinade, it was so good. I thought it was rediculous to let something so tasty just go down the drain so I incorporated it into the dressing.
So, for the salad you will need:
about 6-7 cups of romain lettuce chopped
1/2 an avocado peeled (I didn't use the avocado this time because I forgot to add it to my grocery list so we had to go without but every time I have made a variation of this in the past I have included it, it's really a must have here)
a few thin dices of red onion (however much you like)
1 cup chickpeas cooked
2 roasted and sliced portobellos
For the roasted portobellos
Combine the marinade in a small bowl:
1/2 cup cooking wine
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
2-3 portobello mushroom caps
Lay the mushrooms rib side up in a loaf pan and pour the marinade over them trying to keeo as much inside the caps as possible. Allow them to sit about 20 minutes. In the meantime heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil and bake about 30 minutes. Remove the foil, flip the caps over and continue to bake another 10 minutes. Try to keep the caps warm and slice them over the salad just before serving. Reserve the leftover marinade.
Dressing:
3 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs maple syrup or honey
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
3 Tbs dijon mustard
1/2 cup reserved mushroom marinade
Arrange 2 plates of salad, lettuce on the bottom, onions, chickpeas, avocado, and last the sliced mushrooms. Pour over the desired amount of dressing.
"Spiked" Breadsticks
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
4 tsp. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp powdered garlic
about 1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup walnuts
about 4 Tbs flax seeds
1/2 cup shredded cheese
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. In a blender combine the milk, walnuts, and flax seeds and blend until all the flax seeds and walnuts are pureed. I say "about" 1 1/4 cups of milk because I usually only blend 1 cup and put the 1/4 cup aside to add as needed to get the right consistency. Pour the wet into the dry and also the cheese and knead with your fingers adding the extra milk as neccessary. This is not a yeast dough so the consistency should be a bit more wet, as wet as you can manage without making the dough such that you can't form it into breadsticks. I am slowly getting better at getting this right but it's never the same each time I make it. It is just a matter of paying attention to how sticky the dough is. On occasion I have had to add a bit more flour to make it right. Once you have the right consistency knead the dough a bit to activate the gluten. Form the dough into about 12-15 breadsticks depending on the size you like.
Enjoy!
You used the word "yummy" hehehehe Guess Rachel Ray isn't the only Rachel who uses that. Love those breadsticks! Chick peas aren't so fun...kind of like balls of sawdust. :-) hehehe good thing dinner isn't different every night, that way I don't have to get a chick pea extravaganza...keep feeding them to me though. Ultimately it's about keeping us healthy, which no one can argue that you do a fabulous job at. I mean, just look at my shiny coat! :-)
ReplyDeletei tried this recipe and it was great. it did take all day but even the boys ate the mushrooms. i'm impressed.
ReplyDeletetook all day? Wow, sounds like you need to practice Lisa =)
ReplyDeletethat really is funny...this is something I make when I don't want to spend a lot of time on dinner...hahahaha
ReplyDelete