Simple Italian Style Orzo

Here's a very simple variation of an Italian style meal substituting noodles with Orzo. If you've never had orzo, my best description is that it tastes like pasta in the form of rice.

Ingredients:
2 Green bell peppers
1 Box of Mushrooms
4 Small Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Capers
Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute (or equivalent)
Orzo

Boil orzo in a pot with a teaspoon of olive oil. While boiling chop bell pepper and tomatoes. Slice mushrooms. Set aside. Add olive oil to a pan. Sprinkle 2 tsp of seasoning. Once heated start adding bell peppers. Sprinkle another 2 tsp of seasoning. Cover for a minute. Stir in mushrooms. Let cook for another few minutes until peppers have softened a bit. Finally, stir in the tomatoes. Stir again. Cover for 1 minute. Take the jar of capers and spoon out 4 Tbsp into the pan. Cook for a few more minutes and cover.

If you haven't already, drain the orzo and place 1 tsp of olive oil. Stir. Spoon some of the veggies over desired amount of orzo. The capers will provide enough saltiness. Simple and good!

Mushroom and Gnocchi

Italian inspired mushroom medley with an olive oil/garlic based sauce.

Ingredients
Crimini mushrooms, sliced
Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
White button mushrooms, sliced
Gnocchi
5 Cloves of garlic, sliced
Olive Oil
Oregano
Red pepper flakes

Boil water in pot with 1 tsp of olive oil and a dash of salt. After water boils place gnocchi in pot until floats. When ready, drain. In the meantime, take a pan and sauté the mushrooms with 1 Tbsp of oil. Add a dash of red pepper flakes and salt. Turn down heat. Separately, for the 'sauce' you'll need to place 3 Tsp of oil with the sliced garlic. Cook until garlic turns a bit brown. Add about and additional 1/4 cup of oil. Cook until hot.

Place gnocchi on plate top with mushroom sauté pouring olive oil sauce to taste including a few garlic pieces.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms

I love roasted vegetables! Here's a simple recipe if you like brussels sprouts and honestly, even if you're not sure if you like them, you will be eating them up after you make this dish.

Ingredients:
1 lb bag of Brussels Sprouts (Trader Joe's has them pre-washed) - halved lengthwise
6 Small Portobello Mushrooms (Trader Joe's has these packaged) - sliced
4 Tbsp of Butter or Vegan Margarine
1-2 tsp of Rosemary Leaves
2 tsp of Garlic Powder
1/4 cup of Olive Oil
1-2 tsp of Salt
1-2 tsp of Black Pepper
1/4 cup of Water

Preparation is key for this recipe to work under 30 minutes. First, pre-heat your oven to 450º, meanwhile halve your brussels sprouts and place them in a baking pan or sheet. Take the olive oil and spread evenly across your sprouts. Take 1-2 tsp of salt and sprinkle evenly over the sprouts. Do the same for garlic powder and black pepper. Place pan in oven. Bake for about 20 minutes.

While your sprouts are in the oven. Slice your mushrooms. Heat your pan with 2 Tbsp of butter or margarine. When butter starts to melt toss in your sliced mushrooms. Cook until covered in butter or until soft. Toss in rosemary, salt and black pepper to taste. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Take an additional 2 Tbsp of butter and melt in the pan again. Stir until well mixed. Pour in water. You'll want to make a sauce out of this so the dish won't be dry.

Once the sprouts are finished in the oven... (they're done when you see them begin to caramelize.) Yum! you can take them out of the oven and taste test it as well. When you're satisfied, take the sprouts and place them in the pan with the mushroom sauté. Make sure you have enough sauce so that your dish doesn't wind up dry. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Finish by serving over a bed of rice! (I can't believe how good this is...) Oh and if you want to get adventurous add fried onions. Heh.

Spicy Italian Salad

Los Angeles was in the 80's yesterday (re: weather) and I couldn't bring myself to stand in front of my hot gas stove for the sake of cooked food. So the capers I bought at the store inspired me to make an Italian based salad.

Required: Spinach, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Capers, Black Pepper, Oregano, Garlic Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Salt, Parmesan Cheese, Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar

If your spinach is not pre-washed please wash before eating and mixing. Slice mushrooms. Cut tomatoes into triangular chunks (I used Roma tomatoes so they were easy to cut.) Take 2-4 Tbsp of capers and dice them. Throw the washed and dried spinach in a bowl. Add mushrooms and tomatoes. Top off with capers, Parmesan cheese and spices. The black pepper and cayenne pepper make this salad spicy. Put in less than you think you can handle.

Mix olive oil and Balsamic vinegar in a bowl. Spoon dressing over salad. Buon appetito!

Bowties

If you like pesto, try this...

Required: Bowtie pasta, Crimini Mushrooms, Firm tofu, Pesto (For vegans, you can find vegan pesto at Whole Foods), Olive Oil, Black pepper, Salt

Optional: Garlic powder

First, prepare the pasta by boiling just enough in a pot. Put a little olive oil and salt in the pot while boiling the water. In the meantime, slice the mushrooms as desired. Cut firm pieces of tofu into cubes. Saute the tofu and mushrooms in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add a few pinches of salt and black pepper. Add a few dashes of garlic powder if you have it. If you like garlic, you can also add a minced clove into this saute.

When the pasta is ready to drain, let saute stand while you are draining the pasta. Put a dash of olive oil in the drained pasta and stir. This will prevent the pasta from sticking to each other. When you refrigerate the leftover pasta, it will also prevent the pasta from clumping.

Add desired pasta topped with mushroom and tofu saute to a large bowl. Stir in desired amount of pesto. Mix well.

15 minutes and you're done!

Indian Spring

I don't pretend to know how to cook Indian food. In fact, I know that it's one of the most difficult ethnic foods to make. But I really surprised myself with this one. I liked it so much, I couldn't stop eating!

Required: White Mushrooms, White Onion, Curry Powder, Garlic Powder, Canola Oil, 1 Can of Chick Peas or Garbanzo Beans

Optional: Clove Powder, Rice, Sea Salt, Soy Sauce, Black Pepper

Chop the white onion into small pieces. Slice mushrooms. Saute onion in oil. Put in mushrooms and saute some more. Keep stirring until mushroom is softer. After opening the can of chick peas, pour in about 3/4 of the can. Add curry powder. Add enough powder to cover all of your ingredients. Then add two tablespoons of water and one tablespoon of soy sauce. Don't add too much. The water will dissolve the curry so that it turns into a bit of a sauce. Add a dash of clove powder. Add some black pepper and sea salt for taste.

Serve over a bed of rice. I pre-cooked some Basmati rice...

I think this one's my favorite!

Baked Tofu Sandwich

You need bread, baked tofu, some kind of spread, mushrooms, and some kind of leafy green. In this picture I used buttermilk bread. First I prepared the mushrooms by slicing them thinly. Then I sliced the baked tofu into thinner slices. (It usually comes as a block.) I had a difficult time slicing the tofu as you can see from the picture. The bread had a thin layer of mayo before I added the raw spinach. Finally, I topped it off with the tofu and mushrooms! For those of you who are vegan, you can easily substitute mayo with mustard or hummus. You can also make variations using sprouts rather than spinach.

15 minutes to make, 15 minutes to eat. Mmm!