Stir Fry and Cauliflower "Rice"

We made stir fry with cauliflower "rice" today because we were a little tired of the carbohydrates.

Cauliflower Rice

Ingredients:

- 1 head cauliflower

- handful chopped cilantro

- juice of 1 lime

- 2 tbsp butter

Method:

1) cut out the core of the cauliflower, then cut into reasonable pieces and place in food processor

2) fry the cauliflower on medium heat until a little tender (still tender and moist)

3) turn off heat

4) add cilantro and butter

Eggplant and Portobello Stirfry

Ingredients:

- 1 eggplant

- 2 portobello mushrooms

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- dash of fish sauce

Method:

1) slice up eggplant and portobello

2) fry until lightly browned

3) add soy sauce and fish sauce

4) mix

It goes really well together and it's all vegetables.

Five Spice Portobello and Broccoli Stirfry

Last night we adapted a recipe from kidspot.com http://m.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes/dinner+7/five-spice-lamb-and-brocollini-stirfry-recipe+2342.htm by substituting portobello mushrooms for lamb and made our own Chinese 5 spice powder.

For the 5 spice powder, we used:

Star anise

Cloves

Cinnamon

Fennel seeds

We didn't have Sichuan pepper, so we used chili powder instead. 

For the recipe, the ingredients we used:

4 portobellos

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp Chinese five spice powder

1 yellow bell pepper

1 head of broccoli

1 shallot

2 cloves garlic

5cm ginger (grated)

Vegetable oil

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

First we chopped/sliced all the ingredients:

And then we combined the sliced portobello mushrooms and the 5 spice powder in a sealed bag to shake up and coat the mushroom:

Next you heat the wok with some vegetable oil until it starts smoking, then stirfry the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes. 

At this point I added a little more vegetable oil and added all the rest of the vegetables. Stirfry for ~3 minutes. 

We also made instant mashed potatoes, but rice would work also. 

After that, add the hoisin sauce and soy sauce, cook for a couple more minutes, and then serve. If it looks too thick, you can add a splash of water as well. 

And of course a dash of sriracha to finish it off. 

Vegetarian Quinoa Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Today's recipe was inspired by this yummly recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/2 stock (recipe called for vegetable stock, but we had some chicken bouillon left over)
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 4 portobello mushrooms
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup red kidney beans, washed and drained (from can)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• juice from one lemon
• 1 cup spinach
• 2 ounces regular goat cheese

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Remove stems from mushrooms, place stem side down on a pan, brush with olive oil, and heat for 5 minutes. Once removed from oven, flip over.

2. Heat 1/2 cup water. When it starts boiling, add quinoa, bouillon, and rosemary. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and let it cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from heat and let sit, still covered for another 5-10 minutes or until water is absorbed.

3. While the quinoa is cooking, wash and cut the spinach into strips.

4. Drain wash and mash the beans.

5. Add garlic and lemon juice to the beans and mix well.

6. In a medium bowl, add spinach, bean mixture, goat cheese, and quinoa.

7. Divide mixture evenly into the four portobello mushrooms.

8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until filling is lightly brown. Serve.

Portobello and Glass Noodle Stir Fry

Tonight's recipe was also from Kidspot. Again, we changed the recipe just a little bit to suit what our grocery  market offers.

Ingredients:

• a package of glass noodles (we just used a package as close to 200 g as possible)
• 2 tsp peanut oil
• 2 tsp ginger, finely grated
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 white onion
• 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into batons
• ~150 g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 2 portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 4 bunches of bok choy
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp sugar

Steps:

1. While the water is boiling, combine the soy sauce, lemon juice and sugar in a bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves.

2. Prepare the vegetables.

3. When the water boils, add the noodles, stir a big until they are all submerged. Let the noodles soften, then drain and toss in half of the peanut oil so it doesn't stick. Set aside.

4. Heat the remainder of the oil in a pan on medium high heat. Add the ginger, garlic, and onion and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the vegetables and cook for another 3 minutes or until the bok choy starts getting soft and the mushrooms starts juicing.

5. While the vegetable is cooking, you can cut the noodles so it's not as difficult to eat. Then add it to the pan.

6. Stir the ingredients around until they are well mixed.

7. Plate and enjoy.

8. It has enough sauce on its own, but a little sriracha sauce doesn't hurt.

By the way, here is a follow up article to the complaint about the sriracha odour. Little victories.

Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Burgers

There are many variations of this meal. We found one a long time ago and have since changed it so much without even looking at the recipe I couldn't find it anymore. The original recipe called for onions, but since we had some green onions left over from another meal, we substituted that in.

Ingredients:

• 4 large portobello mushrooms
• 1 bell pepper
• 2 chili peppers
• 3 stalks green onion
• cheese (at your discretion)
• olive oil (at your discretion, I used about 1 tsp)
• balsamic vinegar (at your discretion, I used about 2tsp)
• buns

Steps:

1. Wash and chop up your ingredients.

2. Mix the bell pepper, chili peppers, green onion, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar together.

3. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and place on a rack (it lets the juice drip down so your mushroom won't be soggy.

4. Layer your vegetables and cheese on the mushrooms and bake for 20 minutes at 200°C / 400°F.

5. When the mushrooms have been in the oven for about 17 minutes, start toasting the buns - cheese optional.

6. Viola!

7. Top with your choice of topping.