Grilled Portabella Mushroom Sandwich

Pin It
This one is pretty simple. It's grilled portabella mushrooms on top of some roasted red bell peppers and onions. Arugula, herb goat cheese, and toasted garlic French baguette complete the sandwich. We also had some roasted potatoes with garlic and thyme as a side dish.


Unfortunately, a whole afternoon of baking yielded no pretty pictures or good food. It's always so depressing when that happens.

Mushroom Pea Risotto

Pin It
Along with the fennel leek soup, we're also having mushroom pea risotto.

• 1 cup of arborio rice
• 2 shallots, minced
• 6 dry shiitake mushrooms, soaked and chopped small
• 1 1/2 cups of frozen peas
  
• 3 cups (give or take 1/2 cup) of vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine
• juice of 1 lemon
• zest of 1 lemon
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• a pinch of saffron
• 2 tablespoons of butter
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Soak saffron in lemon juice and set aside. Saute minced shallots in melted butter until softened, about 5 minutes. Add rice and dry white wine. Cook using low heat until wine is absorbed. Add lemon zest, lemon juice with saffron, thyme and 1 cup of vegetable stock. Cook until liquid is absorbed, then add 1 cup of vegetable stock at a time until the rice is cooked through. Stir in mushrooms, peas, salt and pepper to taste.

Fennel Leek Soup with Fennel Greens

Pin It
I really like potato leek soup, but the smell of leeks would permeate my apartment for days. This is a variation on the basic potato leek soup, minus the strong leek smell. The recipe is courtesy of Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

• 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and sliced thin
• 1/4 cup of fennel greens, chopped (optional)
  
• 2 leek roots, sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 potato, peeled and sliced thin
• 6 cups of vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons of butter
  
• salt
• white pepper

The key is the vegetable stock. The recipe calls for a quick vegetable stock that includes the fennel trimmings and greens. I am in no mood to start vegetable stock from scratch. So I heat up my basic vegetable stock and add fennel trimmings, fennel greens, leek greens, and potato skin. Cook the stock for about 30 minutes, strain and set aside.

In a large soup pot, melt butter and add fennel, leek, onion potato, and salt. Add a cup of the stock back into the pot. Close the lid and cook for 20 minutes until the fennel is tender. Then add the residual stock and cook for another 10 minutes. Add white pepper to taste. Puree the mixture and garnish with fennel greens.