Mushroom and Green Bean Pasta

Salty, sweet, crunchy, soft - this dish has a variety of flavors and textures. Is there anything else you could dream about for your Meatless Monday dinner?

This has to be one of mine (and my Mom’s) favourite dishes; it’s a quick and healthy way to dress up pasta with two of my favourite veggies - green beans and mushrooms! Sure, there’s a little butter and some Parmesan cheese but hey, live a little.

I’m sure other vegetables would taste delicious in here - red peppers and broccoli come to mind. I don’t think you could go wrong either way... this is just too good.

Mushroom and Green Bean Pasta (serves 4)

Ingredients

12 oz (340 g) short twisted pasta
1 cup (8 oz) shiitake mushrooms
4 oz green beans, cut in half
4 tbsp butter
1 small onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
2 tsp dried thyme
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Directions

Cook pasta as per directions on the box.

Prepare the vegetables: grate onion, chop garlic, wash and cut green beans in half, wash mushrooms.

Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a pan over medium-high heat, saute onion for 2 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.

De glaze the pan with 1/4 cup white wine, scraping up all the bits at the bottom. Cook until the liquid has reduced by half.

Reduce heat to medium and add in the mushrooms, green beans and 1 tbsp of butter . Cook stirring a few times for 5 minutes. Add in 1/4 cup of water and cook for another 4 minutes. Adding the thyme partway through.

Turn the heat off and add in the remaining tbsp of butter and the Parmesan cheese.

Serve over cooked pasta.

Enjoy this Meatless Monday dish - it's my favourite!

- Lou

Quinoa Mushroom Pilaf

Quinoa (keen-wah) is something that I've heard a lot about, but have never tried ... despite having some in the pantry for months. It's an interesting, ancient grain that has a rather unique texture, and it's really good for you! The texture is kind of crunchy and soft at the same time. At first I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm pleasantly surprised. The flavor of quinoa is mild and nutty, which is easily adaptable. This week's Meatless Monday quinoa pilaf is filling and works well as a main course, but it would also make a wonderful side to a nice roasted chicken.

After researching about quinoa and it's flavor, I thought that mushrooms would be a nice compliment to it's flavor. I have to say that after eating this quinoa mushroom pilaf, I'm definitely a big fan of quinoa and can't wait to try more recipes!

If you're on the hunt for a dish that is relatively simple to make, and yields scrumptious results then I highly recommend this one!

Quinoa Mushroom Pilaf (serves 2-4)
recipe inspired by: Food Network

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
4 oz white mushrooms, quartered
1 cup quinoa
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
freshly ground pepper and salt
1 1/4 cups water
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Directions

Heat up olive oil in a in a saucepan and add your quartered mushrooms, cooking over medium/medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until slight softened. Add in your clove of garlic, cooking until fragrant, about a minute.

Be sure to rinse your quinoa properly in cold water before adding to the mushrooms. Once rinsed, add quinoa and dried thyme to saucepan, toasting for a minute and mixing around with the mushrooms. It should become rather fragrant. Add in salt and pepper to taste, (be careful with the salt as we will be adding in Parmesan cheese at the end.)

Add water and bay leaf and bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat and simmer for 9-11 minutes. Once cooking time is up, fluff with a fork and add in the two tbsp of Parmesan cheese, let sit for a couple of minutes before serving!

It really is very simple and delicious, try it out!

- Lou

Chicken Mushroom Risotto

So, here we are a couple weeks after I said that Meatless Monday's were making a triumphant return... and well... that hasn't really happened has it? Nope. I failed on that promise. I haven't really had much time for cooking recently. Getting back into the swing of things school wise, has been... well, er, a little more demanding than I expected. But I'm determined to get this blog up and running smoothly again. So let's start it off with one of my favourite dishes... ever. Risotto.

I've mentioned this before... anyone catch the Red Pepper Risotto a few months back?

A lot of people seem to find risotto an extremely intimidating dish, but I think it's just because they don't really understand the mechanics of it. Basically, you've got your onions, and then you add some Arborio rice, and then you're adding about 1/2 cup additions of broth for about 30 minutes until the rice is cooked. Really, not hard at all, and the result... totally worth it! Just ask my satisfied family... mmmmm!

So ready to dive into risotto, head first? No dipping your feet in here and slowly getting in... common, jump in!

Chicken Mushroom Risotto (serves 4-6)
7 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion chopped (or grated)
1/2 lb (8 oz) white button mushrooms (chopped)
2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cooked chicken breast (chopped)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
cracked pepper to taste

Directions

In a pot over medium heat bring the chicken stock to a simmer, then reduce the heat and keep it warm.

In a large pan, melt the butter with the olive oil over medium heat, add the onion and saute until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add in the mushrooms, and cook, until barely cooked (about 2 minutes). Add in the rice and stir until warm and coated in oil. Next, add in the wine and continue to stir as the rice absorbs the liquid.

Once the wine is fully absorbed you may begin adding your stock. In about 1/4-1/2 cup additions at a time, stirring constantly until the liquid is just almost fully absorbed. Once this happens, you may make another addition of stock, and repeat until the rice grains are creamy on the outside and somewhat tender on the inside (you do not want them to be mushy! That means you've added too much liquid.) This entire process (of adding the broth) should take about 20-25 minutes.

Once the rice is cooked, remove from heat and add in your cooked chicken breast, and stir to combine. Add in the Parmesan cheese and season with pepper (not salt needed, the Parmesan should be salty enough.)

My mouth is watering just writing this post... I think I'm going to make this tomorrow. It's the perfect dish for the chilly fall evenings... which are coming sooner than I hoped! eek!

- Lou