sun-dried tomatoes

CIC: Goat Cheese and Mushrooms

~ lk529 ~ 6 Comments

CIC-header

It’s the 20th of the month and that means it’s time for another Crazy Ingredient Challenge reveal! The winning ingredients from the polls this month are Goat Cheese and Mushrooms. I know, it’s not really that crazy of a combination, but it’s still a good one!

I didn’t think I would partake because I don’t like mushrooms. If you read this blog you already know that. If you read this blog then you also know that the two boys in my house do like mushrooms.

Last week my mother-in-law and brother-in-law’s girlfriend came to visit. I asked if they had any dinner requests and they wanted my Ravioli with Mushrooms and Brussels Sprouts. I made a huge batch so bought 2 lb of mushrooms. With help in the kitchen I forgot to mention we wouldn’t need all of the 2 pounds to be diced but before I could remember that a massive pile of diced mushrooms were awaiting my next command. (Having help is awesome!)

Now I had a baggie of chopped mushrooms hanging out in my fridge. No one used them in their eggs the next morning so I decided to get some goat cheese and answer the challenge.

Earlier this week my husband worked a half day so I decided to make lunch. You know, something other than a bagel and cream cheese. I made a quesadilla with the two mandatory ingredients and added sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella cheese for some sweetness and cheesiness. I purchased an herb and garlic flavored goat cheese to add a little pizzazz to the quesadilla.

My son has been in a highly picky phase right now. I’m hoping it’s related to his teething and we return to his more adventurous appetite soon. Foods that we know he likes he’s not wanting. He has been living on a diet of bread, cheese, and bananas. It is with immense relief that I tell you he ate this quesadilla – I just had to call it a sandwich to get him to consider trying it! Win!

Also a win – I liked this quesadilla, too! Looks like this blogging thing might turn me into a mushroom liker (I can’t quite say lover just yet) after all!

The following recipe is for 1 quesadilla.

Goat Cheese and Mushroom Quesadilla

Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 C diced mushrooms
  • 2 8″ whole wheat flour tortillas
  • 2 oz herb and garlic goat cheese
  • 2 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese

Steps:

  1. In a small skillet over medium-high heat, saute mushrooms in olive oil until tender, about three minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Spread 1 oz of goat cheese onto each tortilla.
  3. Place one tortilla, cheese side up, in a large skillet over medium heat. Distribute the mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes over the tortillas. Add the shredded mozzarella and top with the other tortilla, cheese side down.
  4. Cook quesadilla until golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted.

*This recipe is adapted from Andrea at http://www.taylormademarket.com/spinach-sundried-tomato-mushroom-goat-cheese-quesadilla/*

Goat Cheese and Mushroom Quesadilla for Crazy Ingredient Challenge from Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in this month’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge click on the link below.

#WaffleWeek2015: Hummus Waffles with Sausage and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

~ lk529 ~ 18 Comments

#WaffleWeek2015 Hosted by Kim @ Feed Me, Seymour

Waffles are in my top five favorite foods, so when I found out there was a blogging event completely surrounding waffles I just had to join in! Thank you to Kim of Feed Me, Seymour for allowing me to barge in!

I have six different waffle recipes on this blog, all of which appeal to the first meal of the day (not that that stops us from having waffles for dinner once a month!). I thought it would be fun to take this festive occasion to share a waffle intended for dinner (or lunch).

These hummus waffles are studded with Italian sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh basil. I was tempted to rename these waffles “pizza waffles” because that’s exactly what the flavor profile reminded us of! I did feel that that title would be slightly misleading as there isn’t any cheese in these waffles. I do think adding in some shredded mozzarella would be welcome to really take the pizza concept to the next level – and provide marinara for dipping!

I wasn’t really sure how to eat these waffles, but we still topped this savory creation with maple syrup (no butter, though). We loved the savory sweet combination, so give it a try!

IMG_5329 (2)I was skeptical on how my son would handle these waffles. He, like his mother, loves all breakfast foods, but I wasn’t sure if the texture of the add-ins would throw him off. The answer was not even a little bit! He ate an entire waffle on his own.

Hummus Waffles with Sausage and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

  • 1 C flour
  • 1 C white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 C milk
  • 1/2 C hummus
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 sausage link, casings removed and fully cooked
  • 1/4 C chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (I used Gourmet Garden lightly dried basil)

Steps:

  1. Preheat waffle iron and spray with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in the eggs and milk. Add in the hummus and olive oil, mixing until combined (it will be thick). Fold in the cooked sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil.
  3. Drop 1/3 – 1/2 C of waffle batter onto the prepared waffle iron and cook until golden.

*This recipe is modified from Gina at http://www.runningtothekitchen.com/savory-hummus-waffles/*

Hummus Waffles with Sausage and Sun-Dried Tomatoes for #WaffleWeek2015 from Sew You Think You Can Cook

And keep that waffle iron hot for these other great recipes:

Appet-affles

Breakf-affles

Waffl-ides

Dessert Dish-affles

Sun-dried Tomato Risotto

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

Creating your own recipes can be daunting, but using a neutral flavored base is a great way to learn how to play with flavors. Rice, chicken, potatoes.

I like to get creative with risotto. There’s something therapeutic to me about stirring a pot of soon-to-be-creamy Arborio rice.

I planned to make this dish the first Friday of Lent as a way to “sweet talk” my husband. As he isn’t Catholic, I don’t force upon him a fast or expect him to abstain from meat on Fridays. But if we’re eating in, we’re having either seafood or a meatless entrée. Most often I’ll make pasta, and brown up some meat or grill some chicken for him.

We ended up ordering pizza that Friday instead so this risotto became a beautiful “fancy” side dish to some baked chicken on another night. I wouldn’t recommend using this recipe as your main dish anyway. Now that I think about it, risotto isn’t often, if ever, served as a main dish – unless it has meat in it.

An Original Recipe

Sun-dried Tomato Risotto

Ingredients:

  • 5 C chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 large sweet onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 C Arborio Risotto Rice
  • 1/4 C vegetable stock or white wine
  • 10 sun-dried tomato halves, chopped
  • 1 C fresh spinach
  • 1/4 C mascarpone
  • 2 tbsp grated asiago cheese
  • 1 lemon

Steps:

  1. Bring chicken broth to a simmer over low to medium heat.
  2. In a large pot (I use a dutch oven) saute onion and bell pepper in olive oil over medium-high heat. Season with S+P. When onion is translucent add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add rice and toast 2 minutes.
  3. Deglaze the pan with vegetable stock or white wine. Use a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the pan.
  4. Once liquid is absorbed add 1-2 ladles of warm chicken broth. Stir often. Once liquid is absorbed repeat until rice is tender and creamy. You may not need all of the chicken broth.
  5. Once rice is cooked through reduce heat to low and add tomatoes, spinach, mascarpone, and asiago. Stir until spinach is wilted and cheese melted. Squeeze with lemon and serve.

Sun-dried Tomato Risotto 1 Sun-dried Tomato Risotto 2

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