Category Archives: Vegetable Main Dishes

Portobello Sandwiches + Oven Fries

I’ve got something a little different for you today.

I have two things for you. And I’m going to show you how I made them.

Balsamic portobello mushroom sandwiches with crispy onion, melty cheese and fresh tomato. Yes. And, baked french fries.

This super simple, quick and easy meal will amaze you!

I would say that neither of these are exactly recipes. They are ideas, really. Simple ideas. And two things that can become a regular weeknight meal.

For the easy oven fries, start with a potato (or two or three — this is very easily doubled, tripled, etc. for how many you need!)

Cut the potato in half.

And then cut the halves in half to make quarters.

And then again, cut the quarters in half.

Take the quarters, and slice them into fries.

Put the fries into a bowl and drizzle with some olive oil.

And then season those fries. I used salt, pepper, onion powder, paprika and garlic salt. Look below for specific amounts.

Toss those fries up so that they all get evenly coated.

And then, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Lining the baking sheet with parchment paper is not completely necessary, but will make cleaning up easier!

While the fries are baking away in the oven, it’s on to the sandwich!

Start by prepping the ingredients. Slice a tomato, onion and some cheese.

Then take care of the onions. You are going to cook them in very hot oil to sort of flash fry them. Read below for detailed instructions. Here is what they will look like once they are done.

Then, take a nice, big portobello mushroom.

Pull off the stem and using a spoon, scrape out the black insides.

Heat a pan over medium heat with about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, place the mushroom in the pan.

Let the mushroom cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. When it’s done, it should be soft and will have shrunk in size.

Once the ‘shroom is soft, turn up the heat to medium high. Pour some balsamic vinegar into the pan. And stand back. It may splash everywhere. You will have some cleaning up to do!

Let the mushroom cook in the balsamic for an additional 3-4 minutes and then turn off heat and place the sliced cheese on the mushroom.

To assemble, first, take a bun. Any bun. One that will make you happy!

Place the tomatoes on that bun. Some fresh, ripe, juicy, red tomatoes. I used two, sliced thick.

Then, the balsamic ‘shroom that now has melty delicious cheese on it.

Top that mushroom with crispy pan fried onion rings.

And there you have it, a portobello sandwich!

Smash down, cut in half, dig right in. However you prefer. Go for it.

It will be good. And it will be messy!

This is one of my favorite quick and easy meals. It takes no time at all and has few, simple ingredients that make for a not-messy kitchen after.

I hope that you will enjoy this meal as much as I do!

Ingredients
*For one. This recipe is very easily multiplied.
1 potato
Olive Oil
Salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic salt
1 portobello mushroom
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
Sliced tomato
Sliced red onion
Cheese (I used fontina)

Preheat oven to 400*. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Start with the potato. Slice it in half. Slice the halves in half to make quarters. Slice the quarters in half. Then slice into fries. Add the fries to a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the seasoning. I used 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, a pinch of paprika and a pinch of garlic salt. Toss well to evenly coat the fries. Place on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, flip and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Clean the mushroom. Remove the stem and using a spoon, scrape out the black insides.

Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onions. The key here is to make sure the oil is very hot before you add them. They will sort of flash fry and get caramelized and crispy, quickly. Once they are done (mine took about 5 minutes), remove from the pan and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil to the same pan and turn the heat to medium. Add the mushroom and let cook on each side for 3-4 minutes. When it’s done, the mushroom should be soft and have shrunk in size. Turn the heat to medium-high and then add the balsamic vinegar. Let the mushroom cook and additional 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the cheese slices to the mushroom.

Assemble the sandwich by placing the sliced tomato on a bun. Top with the mushroom that now has melted cheese on it, and then the red onions.

Take the fries out of the oven and enjoy the meal!

Eggplant + Zucchini Tomato Pasta

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Last Friday, pizza. This Friday, pasta.

This pasta. Is so good.

I’ve been on a pasta hiatus for a little while. Not on purpose. It’s just not something I’ve been craving. Then this goat cheese pasta happened. And now this.

This pasta is fresh, it’s flavorful. It’s filled with veggies. It’s light. A big bowl of this won’t make you wish you hadn’t. It will make you happy!

Really, this pasta has been a highlight of my day the past few days. I’ve been looking forward to it. Once lunch has been over, I have started thinking about the big steamy bowl of this pasta I will eat for dinner. It makes me happy. 🙂

I don’t know what it is. Because this really is so super simple. Just (canned!) tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, kale, onions, some fresh garlic, basil and cheese. And great noodles. Great noodles are key.

I used little chiocciole noodles. I had never heard of them before. But I saw them. And thought they were cute. So I got them. And they are perfect. I cut the zucchini and eggplant the same size as the noodles so everything is just the same size and happy together. 🙂

If you don’t think you like eggplant, you should still try this.

It cooks up nicely in this dish. It’s not tough at all. It has the same texture as the zucchini in this pasta. It might be from the salting technique I describe in the recipe. Salting the eggplant and zucchini before cooking releases most excess water in the vegetables and helps them cook better.

Oh, and after I made this, I read that you should not cook tomato dishes in cast iron because it will break down the seasoning. Oops. You live and you learn, I guess. I re-seasoned mine.

One big bowl of happiness coming your way!

Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil
1 medium zucchini
1 medium eggplant
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 – 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
2 cups chopped kale
14 oz. of noodles, I used chiocciole noodles
Fresh basil, for topping
Freshly grated parmesan cheese, for topping

Start this pasta by prepping the eggplant and zucchini. Thickly slice the eggplant and zucchini. Lay them on a baking sheet and generously sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, you will see water droplets on top of the sliced veggies. Take a paper towel and absorb the water from the slices. Flip the slices and sprinkle the other side with salt. Let sit another 15 minutes and then absorb the water droplets from that side. You can read + see the method thoroughly here. This process will help the eggplant and zucchini cook better by helping them not release as much water.

While the zucchini and eggplant are sitting, put a pot of water on to boil for the noodles. Open your cans of tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Chop the kale and basil. Dice the onion. Shred some parmesan for topping. Cook the noodles once the water boils. Once the zucchini and eggplant process is done, chop them.

In a pan or pot, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onion begins to get soft and slightly brown. Add the chopped zucchini and eggplant. Cook another 5-7 minutes, or until the veggies are soft and slightly brown as well. Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Stir well, so that the tomato paste is completely incorporated into the other veggies. Cook for several minutes, until the sauce begins to slightly simmer. Add the chopped kale and stir. Cook for another 5 minutes, making sure that the kale gets soft and the the sauce thickens.

If you cook the sauce in a big enough pan or pot, stir the noodles right into the sauce and then serve. If your pan isn’t big enough to hold the pasta too (mine wasn’t), scoop some noodles onto a serving dish and then top with sauce.

Top the pasta with parmesan cheese and fresh chopped basil to serve.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato + Black Bean Burgers with Curry Ketchup

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I’ve made more burgers for you!

I don’t exactly consider these veggie burgers. The last burgers I made for you were definitely veggie burgers. They were packed with veggies. These burgers are simpler, with much fewer ingredients. They really only have one veggie in them + sweet potatoes and beans.

Are sweet potatoes veggies? Greg and I always do this thing where we count the number of veggies in the meals that we eat. I feel like I always count sweet potatoes.

I loved the black bean + cilantro burgers I made for you, but they are just a bit time consuming. They don’t take that much time, but this time around I wanted something that can really be whipped up any night of the week, easily and quickly.

The roasted sweet potatoes lend the perfect texture to these burgers. They are soft + binding. Also, delicious + flavorful. The black beans add great texture as well, and go great with sweet potatoes. I love caramelized red onion, and also think that they + sweet potatoes are a great combination.

I made these burgers vegan by using Dijon mustard as a “wet” ingredient rather than an egg. I’m not vegan, but I’m vegan-interested. I also thought recently – if people who eat meat try to go meatless once a week (Meatless Monday), what can already-non-meat-eating people do? They can try to go vegan once a week. So, here is my attempt at once-a-week vegan eating. Dijon instead of an egg. I’ll take it. 🙂

Also, I topped these burgers simply. Some greens and some curry ketchup. Yes, curry ketchup!

I first heard of curry ketchup from Greg’s mom. She said she made it and I was immediately super interested. I had never heard of it. And then, Greg and I went out to eat with his sister and we had fries with curry ketchup. It did not disappoint at all. I loved it!

I followed this recipe. And love it. It will be good on so many things! And, if you don’t want to make your own ketchup, you can undoubtedly just stir some curry powder into ketchup from a bottle.

You’ve got to try this. Sweet potatoes + black beans + caramelized red onion + curry ketchup = one delicious burger.

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes
Olive oil
1 medium red onion
Salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 – 15 oz. can black beans
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350*. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes. Combine the sweet potatoes with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Toss well to coat the potatoes. Roast on a baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are very soft.

While the sweet potatoes are roasting, dice the red onion. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the hot oil with a pinch of salt. Stir, and let cook over medium-high heat for about five minutes, or until onions begin to brown. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until onions are caramelized.

When the sweet potatoes are done roasting, add them to a bowl and mash them using a potato masher. I left mine semi-chunky for texture, but they can also be mashed well so there are no chunks left. Add the black beans to the bowl and mash again, to incorporate the beans. Add the red onion, breadcrumbs and Dijon mustard. Stir well to combine everything. The mixture should be thick + gooey.

Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Form the mixture into patties and cook in the oil for about five minutes on each side, or until the burgers are golden brown, slightly crispy and warmed through.

*Notes:
-You could definitely use an egg here instead of the Dijon, if mustard is not your thing. If using an egg, substitute one egg for all of the mustard. Using the mustard definitely gives the burgers a mustard-y taste.
-To make this gluten free, just use certified gluten free breadcrumbs.
-Click here for the curry ketchup recipe. Seriously so delicious!

Asparagus, Kale + Mushroom Skillet Pizza

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What goes together better than Friday and pizza?

If you ask me, not much. Friday + pizza + perhaps a beer, if that’s what you’re into (I am).

This great combination just got even better. Pizza made in my beautiful cast iron skillet, with slightly sweet caramelized onion sauce, fresh asparagus, crunchy kale, balsamic mushrooms and salty parmesan cheese. O yes, Friday (or any day) is even better with this pizza.

The inspiration for this pizza came from two places.

The method came from the great Bev Cooks blog. I love Bev’s blog. She makes food that looks amazing and she is seriously hilarious. You have got to check out her blog. And this pizza idea? Brilliant.

The flavor combination was inspired by a great restaurant, Earth Bread + Brewery in Mt. Airy, Pa. Earth is the coolest little restaurant. It was the first restaurant that Greg and I tried in Mt. Airy and we were obsessed from the very first bite of hearth-baked flatbread. Earth makes flatbreads and they make them well. They are cooked in a wood-fire oven with ingredient combinations that just blow your mind.

We haven’t had anything there we don’t like, including their selection of small-batch, house-brewed beers.

One night not too long ago, we tried their “special” flatbread of the night. It had an onion marmalade as the sauce, kale, asparagus and mushrooms. Well, not too much later, I tried recreating it and this is what I came up with.

The delicious ingredients mixed with the skillet method makes for one great pizza.

You have got to try it!

Ingredients
1 ball of pizza dough
Olive oil
1 large red onion
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 bunch of asparagus
2 cups chopped kale
4 oz. mushrooms
4 oz. parmesan cheese

First work on caramelizing the onion. Slice the onion thin. Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a pan over medium high heat on the stove. Add the sliced onion and a pinch of salt, stir and let cook about 5 minutes or until onions begin to soften. Add the balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and brown sugar and stir well to incorporate into onions. Turn down heat and cook on medium low, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized, about 25-30 minutes.

While onions are caramelizing, prep all of your veggies. Preheat oven to 350*. Chop the asparagus into thirds.Toss asparagus and kale with olive oil to coat the veggies well and roast in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Slice the mushrooms. Toss with olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Roast in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Once onions are caramelized add to a food processor or mini food chopper (what I used). Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil with the onions and process until they are completely broken down and are thick and “sauce” like.

Now get ready to assemble the pizza. You can read the skillet method in-depth here. Place your cast iron skillet on your stove over high heat. Preheat your oven’s broiler. On a floured surface, roll out the pizza dough to fit into the skillet. Mine was 8 inches. Bev used a pizza skin to transfer her pizza from the counter top to the skillet. I don’t have a pizza skin so I used an extra wide spatula. Transferring the uncooked pizza from the counter to the skillet is tricky, so make sure you have a plan before you add the toppings.

For the pizza, spread a thick layer of the caramelized onion sauce onto the rolled out dough. Top with cheese. Then add on the asparagus, kale and mushrooms. Transfer the pizza to the hot skillet. Quickly transfer the skillet to the oven and broil. Bev said her pizza took 2 to 3 minutes, however, mine took around 10. Keep in mind that cooking time will vary depending on your oven.

Once the dough is cooked through and crust slightly crispy, remove the pizza from the oven, slice and enjoy!

*Notes:
-You can definitely make your own pizza dough like Bev did in the link
-I used a store-bought pizza dough that was 8 oz.
-You could also use the asparagus, kale and mushroom combination on a pizza without using the skillet method
-Do what works for you!

Roasted Mushroom, Potato and Carrot Salad + Homemade Garlic Croutons

1 Reply

I think you are going to love this!

A healthy salad! That is delicious!

I’m telling you, I am in love with this salad.

I mentioned the other day that I am ready for light summer food and this is just that.

Roasted mushrooms are unbelievable. If you have never roasted mushrooms, you need to. And if you have, I hope this is a friendly reminder of how to-die-for they are.

I feel like I am kind of at a weird in-between stage with fruits and veggies. I’m sort of done with winter produce and ready for summer foods but it’s just not time yet. But, I feel like it is always a good time for potatoes. And carrots. And I’ve discovered that cubed fingerling potatoes roast up so nicely. And carrots too! Why is everything better roasted?

And, these croutons. I definitely have a love-hate relationship with croutons. They are yummy and a nice crunchy addition to salad, but have you ever looked at the ingredient list on store-bought croutons? If you haven’t and you have any desire to eat minimally processed foods, don’t look and don’t buy. Make these instead.

I’ve had problems with homemade croutons in the past. They seemed confusing and have turned out either too soft or hard as rocks. These turned out perfectly. The garlic flavor is subtle but delicious. These were slightly soft but had a nice crunch. And so super simple. They take no time at all. I feel like I will start to make a big batch of these to keep on hand.

The whole thing together is amazing. Everything works together so perfectly. The veggies, greens and croutons. There is nothing I love better than a plate full of veggies that tastes delicious and is satisfying!

And, come back tomorrow to see what I dressed my salad with. It. is. amazing!

This is what I used to make probably four servings
Ingredients
8 oz. mushrooms (I used baby portobello)
3 large carrots
10 oz. fingerling potatoes
Fresh ground black pepper
Greens, I used spring mix lettuce, probably about 6 cups
4 pieces of grainy/seedy bread
Olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced

Method

Preheat oven to 375*.

Cube the carrots and the potatoes and cut the mushrooms in half. I left the stems on. All veggies should be about the same size. Add veggies to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, about 1-2 tablespoons, just enough to coat the veggies. Toss to coat well and season with pepper. Transfer veggies to a baking sheet and roast until soft and nicely browned. I roasted for 25 minutes.

While veggies are roasting, cube the bread slices. Add them to a bowl. Add about 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the garlic is soft. Pour the oil and garlic over the bread cubes and toss to combine well. You can add the bread cubes to the same pan as the veggies or get a new one, but they will need about 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just crispy.

Assemble the salad by placing the greens in individual bowls or one big bowl. Top with the roasted veggies and garlic croutons. Drizzle on dressing and toss to combine everything well.

Tomorrow I’ll share my dressing recipe!

Enjoy!

The Dreaming Foodie

Sharing dreams. On food and life.

Category Archives: Vegetable Main Dishes

Portobello Sandwiches + Oven Fries

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Eggplant + Zucchini Tomato Pasta

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Sweet Potato + Black Bean Burgers with Curry Ketchup

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Asparagus, Kale + Mushroom Skillet Pizza

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Roasted Mushroom, Potato and Carrot Salad + Homemade Garlic Croutons

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