Cabernet Mushrooms w/ Greens & Sweet Potatoes

Oh brother, here I go again with a tremendously long break in between postings. I was afraid of this. But I am going to keep trying. The more I do, the easier it will get- right? Right. Right. I have been cooking and eating, but a lot of that cooking and eating has been on the fly with no real thought. Or it has been for more than just me, in a hurry, and without writing it all down. Like for Thanksgiving. Which by the way, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday and are enjoying leftovers! Maybe you're not, though, and maybe you're looking for something filling but responsibly light (because of the guilty indulgences this weekend perhaps?) for dinner. Well, I think this may be an option for you then. Let me know if you like it.

The other night, I ran out of MRE's (meals-ready-to-eat, no not the Military issue but of my own making) and so it was time to cook it up. I also needed lunch for a few days. But I had a craving for mushrooms for dinner and thought soup for lunches would be nice. And, no I didn't want mushroom soup three times in a row. So I conceded to again make more than one meal at once and be prepared for the next few days.
Of course, I didn't get home until almost 8 o'clock since I went to the gym before leaving work, then stopped for dog treats. My dinner and lunch-soup had to be quick meals so I could get on with the other things needing my attention.
Quick was the intent anyway. And for some, this may be quick compared to past kitchen adventures. For me, it was too long given looming homework as one example of something needing my attention. Regardless, both were damn tasty so I am really not complaining.

Ok, I wanted mushrooms and I wanted a hearty dinner. What should it be then? Well, how about a substantially mushroom based meal accompanied by lush greens and braised sweet potatoes? Yup! That'll do. So yummy, so filling.

Ingredients:

7-8 medium mushrooms halved or quartered

1 C Collards, chopped

1 C Mustard Greens, chopped

1/2 C Onions, raw, sliced in half rings

~ 1/4 C Red (Cab Sauv) Wine 

1 C Sweet potato, cubed/diced large

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

All natural, real olive oil cooking spray (not Pam or some weird, can't pronounce it, ingredient list of a "food-like-product")

Make It:

1. Spray a small skillet or pan with the olive oil spray and heat to med-hi heat. Add the cubed sweet potato in one layer and "fry" to brown and soften the potatoes. This might take as long as 20 minutes, but should take less than that. Make sure to turn them over for even cooking. When finished keep on warm. 
2. Meanwhile, but pay attention to the sweet potatoes so they don't burn!, prepare the rest of the vegetables as described in the ingredient list and get the seasonings together as well. This will all come together pretty quickly. 
3. Heat a large skillet with olive oil spray. add onions to saute. Stir for a few minutes, then add spices and mushrooms, stir for 2-3 more minutes. Finally, add the greens and stir only 1 minute. Add the red wine (watch it, it will steam and pop!) and cover the pan while reducing the heat to simmer, very low. Steam for 3 minutes or so. Check greens for wilt but not mush. Remove the mix from the pan to a serving dish and cover to keep warm; reserve the liquid in the pan and reheat to medium. Quickly, add a few dashes of cornstarch to the liquid to thicken it like a gravy. 
4. Place sweet potatoes on the plate, uncover the mushroom mix and pour the gravy over the mix.
5. Enjoy!

This ridiculously filling meal is packed with nutrients, including a healthy portion of protein, and is very low in fat and calories. Hoorah!

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 265.6

Total Fat: 1.3 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 108.7 mg

Total Carbs: 55.6 g

Dietary Fiber: 13.2 g

Protein: 12.7 g

I pack my own lunch: part 2 (spicy & sweet-potato soup)

I'm back! Hooray! It has been several weeks now, but I assure you I have been cooking and have some great recipes to share soon.
I pack my lunch nearly everyday. However, most of the time it's nothing too fancy or special to speak of or it's leftovers from the night before and well, if that's the case, you've already seen the recipe and likely don't care. This time, though, I was making dinner for a friend that will come stay with the Critters while I am away this weekend. Actually, I made a dinner, breakfast and lunch so he could eat while spending his time in my apartment.
For dinner, I made a stuffed carnival squash- but that recipe comes later. For breakfast, I kept it simple with Almond Butter Toast and Pears w/ Goat Brie. Of course, he will assemble that when he's ready so the toast isn't mush. What about lunch you ask? Well, I made a rockin' Spicy Sweet Sweet Potato Soup. I also roasted some of my garden veggies for my friend to make Napoleon Sliders w/ Smoked Mozzarella...(hence the colorfulness pictured to the left and in case you don't know how, look for instructions below).
But the soup-- oh! it was so tasty I had to bring it to lunch with me today!

I have several sweet potatoes in my hanging basket. One has been there so long it's vining. I like it vining and allow it to persist. The other items come and go as needed. Back to the sweet potato... I had one staring at me the other night. So I decided to hack it up and make it into soup! I didn't follow a recipe but I was inspired by several from Vegetarian Times and a few online sites. All were praising the fall foods (squash, potatoes, root veggies, etc.), which I love so had to do something about it.

I knew I wanted something sort of sweet and not spicy. (Rare for me, I know!) Here is the recipe...

Ingredients:
17 ounces,about 4 cups, peeled and cubed sweet potato
2 C water
1/2 C chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 dashes of each -
- allspice
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp (maybe more) cayenne pepper
1 tsp coriander

Make it:
Okay, this is where it gets really tricky so pay close attention* - In a large sauce pot, add all the ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until potatoes are soft enough to mash. Mash everything in the pot. Then transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. If you have an immersion blender (which I don't but would really like one) you can use that instead of messing up the food processor. Then serve and enjoy!
*sarcasm- so simple!

It's really a wonderful mix of flavors. The spice is just right. I think next time I might add a dollop of almond or peanut butter, but it certainly is not necessary. This recipe made 3, 1 and 1/2 Cup servings. I brought 1 serving to lunch and left the rest for my friend. He's a big kid, I am sure he'll eat it all.

I couldn't resist bringing these fresh, sweet yellow pear tomatoes with me. And someone at work didn't like their pita chips and offered them to me. So my meal was quickly complete and still under 300 calories. Bueno!

Nutritional Info*

Servings Per Recipe: 3

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 202.8

Total Fat: 0.8 g

Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 27.5 mg

Total Carbs: 46.6 g

Dietary Fiber: 6.2 g

Protein: 3.4 g

*again courtesy of recipes.sparkpeople.com 

p.s. About the veggies...

I had a medium eggplant, 2 red peppers, and 1 eight ball zucchini. I sliced them all lengthwise and tossed them with olive oil and salt and pepper. 

Then I sprayed a cookie sheet with olive oil, and placed the veggies on it in one layer. While the squash  (mentioned above) was roasting I threw these in the oven, too. About 400 for 15 or so minutes. They should be soft and easy to bite through but not mushy.