Thursday, February 2, 2012

Crazy Good!

I have been craving Portabello mushrooms for quite sometime.  Living with a mushroom hater has really made things tough for a funghi fanatic like myself.  I took a stand this week.  I bought them and I don't know why I didn't do it sooner!!! Takes me back to the days I lived on Woodrow.  My cousin gave me a Kmart gift card as a housewarming present and I used it to get a grill!  I remember cramming it in the toyota a putting it together all by myself.  I wheeled it out to my backdoor which was right off the kitchen and I would grill up these mushrooms all the time.  They have virtually no calories in them so they are perfect for those who are watching their weight and for vegetarians alike. 

Tonight I marinated the mushrooms in Fustini's Tuscan Herb olive oil my BF Lisa gave me for Christmas.  They have shops all over Michigan so check them out. If you ever go to their store, they will let you sample their fine olive oils and vinegars.  I also marinated them in onions and garlic.  I made sure I took the stems and gills out before marinating.  Then I put them in a grill pan sprayed with Pam.

But now for the big finish, the cheesy quinoa!!

3/4 cup quinoa
1/2 small onion diced
4 small cloves of garlic
1/2 cup cooking sherry
3 cups chicken broth
dash of cayenne pepper
butter and olive oil 1/2 tbsp of each
1/2 bag baby spinach
1/2 cup diced red pepper
3 oz goat cheese

Saute the onions and garlic in the butter and olive oil until tender add sherry, quinoa and 1/2 of the  chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Stir often, add more broth till its almost all evaporated. You basically cook it like a risotto so you may need more or less broth.  Meanwhile saute the spinach and set aside. Add it in when there's about 2 minutes of cooking time left along with the diced peppers.  At the end, add about 3 oz goat cheese and mix it in till its a melting pot of goodness!  Top your grilled portabello with this mixture.  Crazy good right!!! yum!