Tempeh Stuffed Mushrooms

So your probably wondering what in the hell tempeh is and what the hell do you do with it. Tempeh is fermented soy beans. All hail the wonder that is tempeh!

I have recently embarked on a new vegetarian, slightly vegan adventure. I say slightly vegan because I'm having trouble giving up cheese. Oh and I'm not giving up honey either. I need that for my sinuses. So, I decided to experiment with this tempeh stuff that actually is pretty tasty.



What you need:
2 tbsp. of Earth Balance butter
1/2 onion minced
1 garlic clove minced
1 block of tempeh
1/4 C. of water
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp. of ground thyme
1/8 tsp. of ground rosemary
4 portobello mushroom caps
Veggie Shreds - Mozzarella flavor

What you do:
Saute garlic and onion in 1 tablespoon of the earth balance butter. Once onions become soft, add the tempeh. Add the remainder of the butter and the water. Stir in the spices and cover. Simmer for about 10-12 minutes. Spoon into portobello caps and cover in cheese. Bake for 7 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve over rice and enjoy!

It's Monday...

You just got home from work or the gym. It's been a long day and all you want to do is eat a nice dinner and relax. Too bad you don't have any energy to cook...

Good thing you don't need it. I made a quick chicken dinner tonight that almost made itself.

Here's what you need:
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp. mayo
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. panko flakes
1/2 c. flour
vegetable oil
cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and brush with vegetable oil. Put the panko flakes and flour in a large ziplock bag. Take the chicken breasts and rub with mayo, salt and pepper. Place chicken in ziplock bag. Close the bag and give it a good couple of shakes. Place chicken on baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Pop it in the oven for 25 minutes and enjoy. Serve with a salad or other leafy green and you have a quick, healthy dinner that tastes great.

As always, I ate the subject without taking pictures of it. Hopefully I will remember next time. Now if you excuse me, i have to get ready for work tomorrow. :(

Nothing says fall like a sweet potato casserole.

Well, this has been a very busy weekend and it's not even over yet. Saturday started out with the usual trip to the farmer's market in downtown Rockville. I managed to score some kale, broccoli, cauliflower and a $10 bushel of apples that has completely taken over my small beer fridge. Eventually those are going to be turned into apple butter, but for now they make a nice snack.

Saturday night was the infamous Lester's birthday. In case you don't know who Lester is, he is Tim's father. :) Like all Johnson family events, everyone makes a dish or two and we eat eat eat until we can't eat any more. I decided to bring my butternut squash soup , and also a sweet potato casserole, minus the icky marshmallows that you usually find on top. I know some people enjoy them, I personally don't. I think that pecans compliment the sweet potato much better, so that's what I did.

Sweet Potato Casserole
* 4 cups sweet potato, cubed
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 4 tablespoons butter, softened
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons butter, softened
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans

(Little tip: you can double this recipe to add some extra topping if your using a larger casserole dish)

Preheat oven to 300-325 degrees. Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a baking dish.

In medium bowl, mix the sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture. Bake in the preheated oven 20-30 minutes, or until the topping turns a light brown.

This was super easy and turned out great! This will be made again and again. I can promise you that.

Everyone Loves Chicken Pot Pie

How can you not like chicken pot pie? Warm, gooey, crispy and just plain good. As far as comfort food goes, this is a staple. And it's really easy to make. My apologies for the lack of images. It didn't make it that far in the blog process. Maybe next time, but no promises.

You'll need:
2 tbsp. buter
1 onion
2 carrots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 c. steamed and quartered mushrooms (I used portabella)
2 c. chopped cooked chicken (I used the leftover meat from a rotisserie that we picked up at Giant)
1/4 c. flour
2 c. low sodium chicken broth, warmed
1 c. milk
1/2 c. half-and-half (or you can use another 1/2 c. of milk)
1 1/2 c. frozen peas
Salt and pepper to taste
1 sheet of puff pastry
2 egg whites, lightly beaten

Here we go!!

Roll out the thawed pastry puff onto a floured surface.

Heat butter in a large pot. When melted, add onion, carrots and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and the flour. Stir to coat the chicken and veggies with the flour.

Slowly pour in the chicken broth, and use a whisk to beat it in to help avoid clumping of the flour. Next add the milk and half-and-half. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened substantially and it clings to the veggies. Stir in the peas and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Now it's time to assemble the pies! I like to use 2 flat corning-wear dishes. Divide the chicken mixture among the dishes. Place the pastry to over the dishes. Cut off the excess and pinch the dough to to secure it. Brush the tops with the egg whites. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

For my vegetarian friends, swap out the chicken for extra veggies like broccoli, zucchini and asparagus. Enjoy this on a chilly evening. It will definitely warm you up after raking leaves, or going for a run.

Did someone say squash?

I'm not sure, but let's just pretend they did. Nothing says fall like butternut squash. In case your not sure what that is, please take a gander at exhibit A:

This interesting vegetable has kind of sweet, nutty taste, kind of like a pumpkin. The fleshy inside is covered by a super hard rind that is kind of difficult to remove, but rest assured, it can be done. And once you get past the hard part, you have a beautiful ingredient that can be used to make sauces, soups and other dishes.

I decided to make a Tofu and Butternut Squash Soup that I found on http://www.sparkrecipes.com/. But as always, I changed things up and added some extra stuff because lets face it, rules are boring. Here it is with my small adjustments:

1 T Oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 chopped carrots
1 small/medium butternut squash, peeled and diced (about 3-4 C) (Good luck!)
1/2 C honey
1 12oz pkg Firm Tofu
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice

Heat oil in large pot over med. heat. Add onion and carrot. Cook until tender (4 to 6 mins.)

Add the squash and enough water to cover the squash. Simmer, uncovered, until squash and carrot are fork tender, about 30 mins.

Stir in honey, tofu, cinnamon, allspice blend with stick blender or let cool slightly and puree in standing blender.

Thin with water if necessary, season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a tiny garnish of cinnamon before serving.

Enjoy!

It's almost.......FALL!

That's right! Only 2 more days until the most glorious season of the year. The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing and the gourds are starting to show themselves at the farmers markets. This is such an inspiring time of year. Keep checking back for some fun fall-inspired recipes. Squash casserole, baked apple surprises and LOTS of soup.

Screw you humidity! Bring on the chilly air and changing leaves!

OMG Cupcakes Galore!

Cupcakes. I obsess over them. I adore them. It's a perfect little piece of heaven that is super versatile. I received a book of cupcake recipes for my birthday this year from Rotem. All I can say is BEST GIFT EVER. This book is amazing!



So, my plan is to work my way through the book and test my baking abilities. The first cupcake in the book is VeryBerry Cakes. I made a couple adjustments to the recipe because I was having trouble finding the fresh berries and I do not use frozen fruit. Just a personal preference, but I think it takes away from the flavor. If that's all you have, that's cool, but if you can, go out of your way and get the fresh stuff.

Here you go!

Berry Buttercake
1 stick butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I highly recommend Penzeys for this ingredient)
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. dried mixed berries or 1 c. fresh berries (I used diced strawberries)
1/2 c. slivered almonds
2/3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. self rising flour
1/4 c. milk

Sugared Fruit
5 oz. fresh blueberries
4 oz. fresh raspberries
1 egg white
3 tbsp. vanilla sugar

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese
2 tbsp. butter
3/4 c. - 1 c. confectioners sugar

Prepare the sugared fruit by lightly brushing the berries with the egg white and rolling them in the sugar. Place on a parchment lined tray and leave out for about an hour.

Preheat the oven between 315-325 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with paper baking cups. Beat butter, vanilla, sugar and eggs in a small bowl until light and fluffy. stir in fruit and nuts, then sifted flour and milk. Divide mixture amoung baking cups and smooth the surface.

Now the tricky part. Depending on your oven, the baking times will vary. The recipe says to bake for 35 minutes. If you like burnt cupcakes, you do that. But I baked them for about 15-17 minutes. Maybe my oven is just boiling lava hot, but this baking time worked for me. When cakes are done baking, turn on a wire rack to cool.

Make cream cheese frosting. Beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sifted powdered sugar.

Once cakes have cooled, decorate with frosting and sugared fruit. Eat. Enjoy. Share with friends because lets face it, it's not a good idea to eat all 12 by yourself.