Portobello stacks with Chevre and Tomato

My Aunt has a handy rule for cooking and entertaining. She suggests learning to make 5 menus really, really well. That way - you know if you need to quickly impress someone you know the end product will turn out great. And, if you constantly entertain the same people, you can rotate to the next menu and it seems like you are just full of recipes that turn out perfectly each time.

Her go-to Vegetarian entertaining menu consists of these stacks... portobello mushrooms marinated overnight in teriyaki marinade (I used Carribean Jerk tonight and it was amazing), covered in thick slices of chevre cheese and tomato.

General directions:
Marinate mushrooms overnight
Place on tin foil and cover with remaining marinade
Grill in tin foil about 20 minutes
Add slice of cheese and top with tomato (and breadcrumbs if you have them)
Close grill lid and let cheese melt
Assemble on plates filled with 1/2 arugala and 1/2 couscous



Drizzle home-made balsamic over arugala and top with mushroom stack


Drizzle more balsamic on the plate - top with roasted asparagus (tossed with EVOO and balsamic, roasted at 400 until you can smell the balsamic)




Balsamic (I didn't measure):
2 pressed garlic cloves, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, seasoned salt, basil leaves, squirt agave. This was probably the best dressing I've made so far.



And there you are... a great looking plate for the neighbors or whoever - in no time at all.



The wine tonight - Antanjo Rioja Tempranillo. The nose? Definitely some dark cherry and even black licorice. The mouth feel is considerably smooth and very mouthwatering. There is a hint of spice and almost chocolate amongst the berry flavor. It was only $7.99 at World Market- and well worth it. Absolutely delicious.

Blueberry Vinaigrette

I had to work late tonight... I had two participants scheduled to come into lab. Both were drug positive, so it was not a day of much success. Nonetheless- I had tons of crap to do at work after arriving early and unshowered as a result of yet another ASAP email from my advisor. Really? I had to work until 8pm. I don't want ASAP emails at 9am. So today was long and crappy. Because of the torturous day ahead of me, I had set out some of my mother's home made pasta sauce to defrost so I could make a quick dinner when I returned home*. I didn't want to just put it over sauce, but I was also feeling lazy - so there was that. I searched "marinara" on every vegan site until I found this picture, and I figured I would add some sausage.

It ended up smothering some spinach linguine with the sauce, in addition to some tofurkey sausage. I made some garlic bread alongside for old time's sake.



The salad (contains cheese, I was craving it - sorry!)

mixed greens, pickled beets, steamed green beans, blue cheese crumbles, apples and walnuts. All topped with blueberry vinaigrette.

Making dressings is easy- and once you start doing it you really begin to hate anything out of a bottle. There's nothing to them- oil, vinegar, mustardc(to help emulsify the dressing- i.e. not let it separate) and some sort of flavoring mixed with herbs. If I have time I make a fruit syrup to use as a base- but on a weeknight I just use jam.

Basically, I just put some blueberry jam into a bowl, added enough balsamic to cover it and a squirt or two of dijon mustard, and whisk. Add olive oil (about equal to the bulk of what is already it the bowl) and whisk again. Add herbs, or pressed garlic if you want, and keep on whisking. If you like it thicker, add more jam. And there it is, your very own dressing.




* Yes I suppose husband could have boiled the pasta and warmed the sauce... but I even asked him to do so - he said he'd just eat a snack and wait for me. Oh dear.