Southwest Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Yum yum yum. Instead of nachos, I decided to stuff some portobello sliders. Good choice all around. This was nicely paired with tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream on the side. The "innards" of each slider was also nice on tortilla chips or would be good on them with cheese as nachos or in burritos. Maybe in a breakfast burrito tomorrow morning? Yes please.

Southwest Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

(Recipe based off of this)

"Innards"

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 red bell pepper (or any color; chopped)

3/4 can black beans

1/2 can kernel corn

1 medium tomato (chopped)

1 medium onion (chopped)

4-5 collard green leaves (chopped)

1 avocado (chopped)

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 clove garlic

1 tsp lemon or lime juice

1 tbsp cilantro (I love the taste of it!)

2-3 slices of cheese or shredded cheese (about 1-2 cups)

6 portobello sliders or portobello caps (washed) -- I used the sliders

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF

2. Brush portobello sliders with olive oil and put into oven on cookie sheet for 5 minutes.

3. Take portobellos out but, keep oven on.

4. Sauté garlic, lemon/lime juice, and spices with olive oil until fragrant

5. Add onions and peppers until tender

6. Add greens until wilted.

7. Add the rest of the vegetables (avocado, tomato, beans, and corn) and sauté until nice and warm

8. Spoon mixture into portobello mushroom caps and top with cheese.

9. Put into oven for about another 10 minutes.

10. Take out and enjoy. 

**Serve with rice or simply guacamole, salsa, tortilla chips, and sour cream.. and leftover mixture! 

Almond Banana Berry Smoothie

Yet another smoothie from yours truly. This one was very similar to some others but, it was tasty nonetheless.

Almond Banana Berry Smoothie

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Blend Time: 2 minutes

Total Time: 4 minutes

Ingredients

1 banana (split into 3 parts)

1/4 cup raspberries

1/4 blueberries

1 cup original almond milk

4 icecubes for thickness and coldness

Directions

1. Add ingredients to food processor or blender.

2. Blend.

3. Enjoy.

Eggplant Parmesan (with a side of spaghetti)

My sister absolutely loves this dish and we had leftover eggplant so I figured: why not? And why not was right! This was cheesy, delicious, and the perfect meal for tonight. It wasn't too hard either..

Eggplant Parmesan

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 medium size eggplant (sliced)

2 cups garlic breadcrumbs

3 eggs (mixed with 1 tbsp water)

1 cup flour

3 tbsp olive oil (for pan)

Choice of sauce (I made a simple homemade tomato sauce  and added it with some vodka sauce)

1 bag of pizza cheese shredded (or any blend of mozzarella, romano,..)

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF

2. In 3 bowls, separate flour, eggs and breadcrumbs.

3. Take sliced eggplant and one by one dip them in the flour then egg mixture then breadcrumbs to coat

4. When all are covered and ready, add olive oil to pan and pan fry them until golden brown. Then flip.

5. When all are done, grease pan and add layer of tomato sauce.

6. Add half of the breaded and fried eggplant to sauce

7. Top that layer with sauce and cheese

8. Top the cheese layer with a layer of eggplant again.

9. Repeat Step #7 and #8 until all eggplant, cheese, and tomato sauce are gone. (Make sure the top is cheese.)

10. Put in oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes (or until slightly brown)

11. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before eating.

12. Enjoy.

**Note: Spaghetti is a good side dish for this and only takes about 10-15 minutes.

Simple Tomato Sauce

I made this easily and quickly for the Eggplant Parmesan. It was tasty! (I apologize for no picture)

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 red pepper (diced)
1 medium yellow onion (diced)
1 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 tsp oregano (chopped)
2 tsp basil (chopped)
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8- 1/4 cup tomato paste
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Directions
1. Add onions and peppers to pan with olive oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper to sauté until tender.
2. Add diced tomatoes until bubbling.
3. Remove from heat and add all to food processor/blender
4. Blend until smooth
5. Put back in pan with herbs and tomato paste.
6. Mix until smooth and warmed
7. Enjoy

Triple Berry Smoothie

I promise that more actual meals will come soon! I just have been trying to eat up leftovers and haven't had time to make food. But, here's another smoothie to tickle your fancy.

Triple Berry Smoothie

It's vegan too!

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Blend Time: 2 minutes

Total Time: 4 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup blueberries (washed)

4 strawberries

1/4 cup raspberries (washed)

1 cup original almond milk

4-5 icecubes for thickness and coldness

Directions

1. Add ingredients to blender or food processor

2. Blend.

3. Enjoy.

Pineapple Berry Smoothie

Again with the smoothies... what a great lunch! Here's an easy one that gives a new flavor to the palette.

Pineapple Berry Smoothie

Vegan!

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Blend Time: 2 minutes

Total Time: 4 minutes

Ingredients

4-5 strawberries

1/4 cup raspberries

1/4 cup pineapple chunks

1 cup original almond milk or vanilla soy milk (or a mix)

3-4 icecubes for thickness and coldness

Directions

1. Add ingredients to blender or food processor.

2. Blend.

3. Enjoy.

Vegetarian Sushi with Vegetable Tempura

Nom nom nom! What an amazing meal. Although time consuming, this meal was very much worth every minute of the work. The sushi rice was delicious with the nori and vegetables to devour with while the tempura was flavorful and crisp. The edamame was a nice touch and quite easy (Hint: just steam the frozen ones).

Sushi

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 0 minutes

"Put Together" Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ingredients

4 cups sushi rice (Follow recipe here: LEAVE TIME FOR THIS!)

1/2 cucumber sliced thinly 

1 carrot sliced thinly

1/2 - 1 avocado sliced thinly

Or any vegetable of choice

4 sheets of Nori

Directions

1. Lay out Nori with rougher side up.

2. Add sushi rice (enough to cover the entire sheet, but leaving a little bit of space on each side)

3. Add fillings to center

4. Roll carefully and tightly, making sure the seal is being made (if you have a mat, this helps too!)

** Watching videos on rolling sushi helped me a lot too!

5. Cut with serrated knife to make pieces

6. Serve with wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce.

Vegetable Tempura

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 box Kikkoman tempura batter mix (I only had to use half)

**This batter mix will require about 3/4 cup cold water and a bowl of ice

2 cups vegetable oil

a wok/deep fryer/deep and wide pan

vegetables of choice (cut into bite size pieces)-- I used eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, onion, and peppers.

**Make broccoli! It's delicious.

Directions

1. Make batter by mixing water and mix in bowl

2. Heat oil in pan until bubbling

3. One by one, cover the vegetables with batter and put them in (only allowing about 5 at a time in the pan).

4. When golden brown, take out and/or flip

5. When all are done, enjoy!

It's nom time!