For the Love of Mushrooms

Courtesy Food Network

In order to get the full benefit of what my local farmers' market has to offer, I have to be willing to get my old butt out of bed early on a weekend... because in the case of my farmers' market, if you snooze, you lose. So, it all comes down to how willing I am to give up another hour of sleep in favor of scoring some really nice produce deals. Since I work full-time, that doesn't happen often. 

Don't get me wrong... once my bladder knows I'm awake, it becomes very insistent. But, most of the time, I fall back between the sheets and luxuriate in the knowledge that I can. But, some mornings, the old body gets to feeling frisky and says, "Let's do something!" This weekend was one of those times. 

At the market, I found an amazing deal on some white mushrooms for a fraction of the cost at the supermarket. Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods, because they are so versatile. I use them in omelets, salads, on sandwiches and, of course, every Italian dish I prepare. In fact, I eat them almost every day, for good reason. They are considered one of the "superfoods," right up there with blueberries and broccoli. 

I dug through my recipe stash for mushroom recipes and found this gem! If you like spinach mushroom lasagna, you're going to love this recipe. It's the same thing, only much easier to make with a couple of suggested modifications.

Following the recipe explicitly, it's 368 calories per serving. But, I decided to use bottled pasta sauce and eliminate the cheese sauce from the recipe in favor of a topping mixture of mozzarella and Parmesan only, which brings the calorie count down to about 300 per serving. 

Although the recipe considers a single serving to be three shells, I thought two was enough, which really drops the calorie count and makes allowance for a side salad and a nice red wine (I enjoyed it with Bogle Essential Red 2011)... or, maybe, some Italian wedding cookies or biscotti. (I'll bet that got your attention!)

Biscotti Toscani
Courtesy Food Network

You can't go wrong with the nutrition, either, especially the kind that is hugely important to boomers. Its ingredients are chock full of vitamins and minerals essential for vision, skin and cell health, immunity, bone health, heart health and boosting the body's antioxidents. 

Just in case you still are not convinced to try this recipe, I'm posting the picture of my first try to show that it's not hard. Even the culinary challenged could make this dish. Start to finish, it took about 40 minutes to prepare. (My version is half the recipe.) And, with some chopped fresh basil as a garnish, it's elegant and tasty enough to convince everyone you're a kitchen pro. Enjoy!

Sirloin Strips with Savory Vegetables and Balsamic Drizzle

I got some inspiration from a food blog, that was inspired by another food blog, to create this dish. Rather than make rolls, I chose to leave the meat as strips and top with the vegetables, which also had to be adjusted to accommodate my own late-in-life digestion issues. You know what I'm talking about... you love the food, but it doesn't love you. That meant eliminating the bell pepper. Instead, I added portobella mushroom slices.

I cut lean sirloin into strips, generously seasoned them with fresh ground pepper and marinated them in a mixture of 1 tsp red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp A-1 Steak Sauce and 1 tsp Liquid Smoke. While the meat marinated, I heated 1 tbsp canola oil in a small frying pan and added 1 tbsp diced garlic, 1 tsp fresh rosemary and 1 tsp fresh thyme. When the herbs began to become aromatic, I added 1 tbsp each of Worcestershire sauce and Liquid Smoke, and then added my vegetables. I stir fried about 1/2 cup each of carrot matchsticks and julienned onion until tender crisp. I then added the portobella mushroom strips and gently stir fried to desired tenderness. I removed the vegetables and set aside. In the same skillet, I then seared the sirloin strips about two minutes on each side.

While the meat cooked, I mixed together 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar with 1/4 cup beef broth, 2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp honey in a small saucepan to boiling and allowed it to cook to 1/2 reduction.

To serve, I mounded the stir fry vegetables on top of the sirloin strips and added the balsamic drizzle on top.