Who loves Portabella mushrooms as much as I do? Who wishes they could carve out the middle and float away in it in a sea of honey and balsamic to a secluded island listening to Coca Rosie all day as marinated tender portabella's wash up to the shore line? If any of this describes you...you might be interested in trying this recipe. Marinated in good stuff made of its own ocean floor.
Okay, first off, I'm working part-time at a used bookstore near Yale University. We have a small cafe that serves food and hard to find book lover treasures. For it to just be a little fun book store a step away from Yale's elite; we get a pretty bustling crowd in everyday. Ranging from students to the locals. I cook with two other amazing cooks. We have a lot of fun dreaming up the days specials, talking about our possible new tattoo, our dreams, what went right or wrong with love while trying to stick with vegetarian and vegan options to the folks that need to make it back to the campus or office in 15 minutes. Some of the photo's I take of the food will be from my own kitchen... a lot will be from the store when I have knocked myself out at what I was able to create in this small hole of scratch kitchen we work out of...it's magic most days! It's a great little place, free of drama and stress. A nice place to clock in and out of in the meantime til I get the ultimate....being the free bird to fly and roam as I wish while still helping other in same way.
While I am having some wins with finding serious people that truly want to do the whole natural thing, a lot of resistence still exist in the majority. Food is a very private, somewhat of a political choice. People are ready to fight, well maybe not with a fist but a fist of words and stubborness about questioning their food choices. To each its own.
The smell of Bacon still makes me want to jump ship and hide in a corner like a caged animal with claws and devour it...each and last crispy, dripping swine hog piece of fat of it like a rib bone. I take a long breath instead, like they teach you in meditation practices, say Ohm and carry on...never been a nail bitter...bacon makes me want to be.
So anywhoo, here is a simply Portabella Mushroom recipe mixed in with Quinoa and other goodies that are sure to hit the spot. Get your mind out the gutter...you know what I mean. LOL! Quinoa gives it that extra superfood power that will make you feel like Superman or woman after eating it!
Enjoy
Peace. Love. Power.
Honey Balasmic Portabella Quinoa Salad (Feeds 2 to 3)
3 to 4 ripe healthy Portabella mushrooms (make sure to take a spoon and scoop out the middle fungus stuff..Not tasty) Thin dice or juilenne them. Up to you.
1 1/2 cup red onions Diced finely
1/2 cup Roasted Peppers julienned (a can of them will do or if you're bad roast them by oven or on the stove top)
2 to 3 TBSP of garlic ( this gives it the extra kick!)
2 cups of Red Quinoa ( if you never heard of it, most health food stores carry it. Yummy and has a bit more of a nutty and gritty taste than regular Quinoa that's recently became popular. A grain from South America, Peru, super food. Ultra good for ya!)
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
Your favorite greens underneath...I love mixed greens or Arugula...again, up to you. Topped with fresh Scallions, maybe a drizzle of Sesame oil.
2 ways to this to bring out the ultimate yummy factor:
1. Marinate all these ingredients over night and then flash fry them the next day in a sautee pan. Cool and then enjoy adding scallions and sesame at the end.
2. Sautee your Garlic ( til its brown in olive oil), red onions and Portabella's flash style for extra kitchen aroma smell LOL or not to get that initial raw garlic hit and then add all your other components and then let it chill as you chill...top with scallions and a drizzle of sesame oil. Always up to you. I chose route 2 in the picture above.
Cooking Quinoa
Cooking Quinoa is easy! It is a cooperative grain that likes to get out of hair as soon as possible so you can eat and enjoy your meal. Same as brown rice. I found the 2 to 1 ratio works. 2 cups of water to every 1 cup of rice you cook. Cook on high heat, don't worry, they usually don't stick to the pan and cooks quickly. It only takes about 15 MINUTES TO COOK QUINOA. Over-cooking will make it lose nutrients and that knitty gritty that make's this salad a win!
Enjoy it, if you do it or inspire too...let me know.
Peace. Love. Light.
Deep Belly
The winter has come. I am buttoning another notch on my coat while bustling through the crowd downtown New Haven. There is a shop next door that is specializing in cardboard furniture. The owner does fun silent shows from his window, like Michael Jackson moon walking impersonations to attract attention. The next day he plays 'the sax' with no notes to be heard but all the gut and soul facial expressions to make it feel real. Everyone these days is trying to find their niche. Something that will separate them from the crowd and express who they are and what they stand for. For me, I found that "freedom" in the kitchen. I've ventured in so many directions and careers in life, that there's something strangely comforting and correct for me being in the presence of Whole Foods and heat and allowing my innate senses lead me to a creation of taste, flavor and flair. Being a young Chef, in the essence of no formal training at a top notch culinary school, my food is primarily based upon deep inner connection to what feels right and appropriate. What hits the spot for me and hopefully for another. I've gained a lot of inspiration from my mother and other women in my family. They are all Southern Bells that brought the rich satisfying soul food jazz up North to Chicago. Ironically, both of my grandmothers owned soul food restaurants. My grandma Connie, on the south side of Chicago had a Bar-b-que restaurant called Big Daddy's... ribs that just fell off the bone and sauce that was as one person I remember saying was "down to the ground." My other grandma, whom I never meant had a 'juke joint' in Mississppi. After being a maid for a wealthy inherited a modest "fortune" when he past. She then opened a place in her hometown Canton, MS where southerners would come, eat, dance, cheat on wives, fallout from too much boot liquor, wake up and do it all over again. Being raised on the out skirts of Chicago I became very fond of listening to my mother, aunts and uncle recall their "glory days' of being put to work as youths cooking and serving in the all night popular "cafe".
My cooking style is very different than the rich, flavorful cast iron cooked dishes I grew up loving and eating as a kid. They are close to my heart....there is nothing like some good southern food cooking on a Sunday afternoon and having people drawn to your house because the "smells" consumed the block and they can't hold back from trying just a 'piece" of those oxtails cooking in the Crock Pot. Just by chance, I stumbled across a Whole foods way of cooking and first really rejected it. "Where is the soul and flavor in this food?" I questioned at first after having a cup of miso soup. This went on for awhile as I continued dibbling into vegetarianism. And I still battle with it...espeially when I call one of my 'girls' in my family and they say " Whatcha cookin today?" And I saw Kale with almonds, olive oil, a touch of garlic and Shoyu." They are quiet..." Child, what is Shoyu and you don't cook Kale you cook Collard Greens, with some vinegar, water and salt pork!" None the less, they may never get it I may never stop craving some of those childhood fav's that were yes "down to the ground" but I started to allow my body not my mind talk to me....after some training I allowed myself to start trying to just accept and eat a carrot in its natural form...no sauce and smothering. And then little by little started thinking how can I make this carrot taste like something I remember without all the grease and grit. Its a task...but hopefully overtime, you will tune in as I am as well...and we can figure, stumble across and experience some things that will make my "girls" and make grandma Connie and Medea proud.
