Caprese Topped Balsamic Portabella

drinking: ice water

listening to: Umphrey's McGee album Live from Beacon Theater


Last night I threw a mushroom in a little pool of balsamic vinegar and hoped to dream up a plan for what to do with it today.  Well, today came around, and I went searching for inspiration with what I already had in my refrigerator.  I didn't want to leave my house on this lazy sunday.






The mushroom turned out absolutely perfect.  Soaked to perfect balsamic goodness...
 

I decided spinach, tomato, and mozzarella sounded like a lovely, fresh topper to the mushroom! Nice and light atop a meaty,  roasted balsamic mushroom.  

simply delightful...

...and utterly divine

This was super easy to bring together and turned out beautiful! I loved taking these pictures.

Caprese topped Balsamic Portabella

makes: 1 salad

time: overnight marinade, 20 minute cook time

Ingredients:

1 portabella mushroom cap, marinated in balsamic vinegar overnight

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 c spinach

6 cherry tomatoes, sliced

1/8 mozzarella cheese ball, cubed

1/8 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp dried oregano

t tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Marinate the portabella cap overnight in balsamic vinegar, coated completely and the smooth side up.

2. Heat oven to 425°F. Line baking sheet with foil.  Place the cap smooth side down and sprinkle chopped garlic clove all over.  Lightly season with salt. Bake 12-15 min.

3. Make salad while cap is cooking by tossing spinach, tomato, and mozzarella with the basil and oregano.  Add EVOO and balsamic to the salad with a little s&p to taste.

4.  Top mushroom cap with salad and enjoy!

This salad looks gourmet and will definitely impress your friends and family.  It was an excellent meal to end my weekend!  Will you be making it this week? Let me know!

Happy Cooking,

Nat
@veggie_ology

Jalapeño Margarita

listening to: Lotus album 'Build' 

drinking: this margarita!

After a long 6 day work week I needed a drink!  I have been craving warmer days lately, and what better way to contribute to the winter blues than with a drink that is supposed to be enjoyed on a beach.  I recently read an article about adventurous margaritas (sriracha strawberry... woah) and was inspired to make a version of my own. 













Last summer I made a habanero pepper simple syrup to add to margaritas and it was SUPER spicy.  So this time around I wanted to go a little milder-  I made a jalapeño simple syrup and it turned out perfect. 








Shaken with some fresh squeezed lime juice, agave nectar, tequila, and triple sec and you will not be able to resist.  I may already be on my second one now...















This was the perfect way to wind down after a long week!

Jalapeño Margarita
Makes: 1 cocktail
Time: 2 minutes to combine

Ingredients:
Margarita
2 limes, juiced
1 oz jalapeño simple syrup
1 tsp organic blue agave nectar
1 oz silver tequila
1 oz triple sec

Jalapeño Simple Syrup
2 parts sugar
1 part water
1 jalapeño pepper, sliced

Directions:
1. Bring water to a boil, then add sugar and peppers.
2. Turn off heat and let sit until syrup is cooled.
3. Strain peppers from syrup and store in an air tight container until ready to use.
4. Fill shaker with ice.
5. Add all ingredients and shake well.
6. Pour in to glass, garnish with leftover peppers, and enjoy!





My college roomies came to visit a few weeks ago and one of my them gave me these beautiful table linens to use as backdrops for my blog!  I will be experimenting with them over the next few posts.  I love them, thanks Mal :)









Who is going to make a margarita this weekend!? 
Don't forget to pin this for later.

Happy Cooking,
Nat
@veggie_ology

Quinoa Burgers

drinking: Dogfish Head Tweason'ale
listening to: The Biggest Loser on the TV

Hello! Sorry my blogging has been so inconsistent.  These burgers will definitely make up for it. I will be making something else this weekend too, so be on the lookout for a second post this week. :)

I have been cooking a lot at home the last few weeks but have not had much time to blog because of work.  One of my monthly goals for March is to strictly eat at home (mostly to cut out eating lunch on the go which is getting way too expensive!) so, I will have many more recipes to share.

my version of burger goodness

I had a delicious quinoa burger while on my recent trip to Colorado, so I wanted to do some experimenting with a few recipes and come up with one I could make at home.  I have created a great combination of a few recipes.  I used sweet potato and black beans to add texture to the burgers, and I absolutely love these flavors together.  I threw some avocado in to the recipe (because I find it almost impossible to not include this in every meal!) and knew it was then ready to share. 

The ingredients in this recipe mesh together into a truly savory combination.  I mixed together black beans, green onion, regular onion, garlic, bread crumbs, quinoa, a little sriracha, and an egg with the sweet potato.

the germ separated from the seed

If you haven't jumped on the quinoa bandwagon, you really should.  Quinoa is a grain-like edible seed that is a complete protein, meaning it has all essential amino acids present.  It is also a great source for fiber and is gluten free.  If you check out the natural grocery aisle, you will find pasta noodles that are now made from quinoa! It's pretty cool stuff.  I like to make a half cup or so of quinoa in the beginning of the week and throw some in with whatever I am making that week.  It is perfect replacement for rice in any rice dish or in soups.  Preparation of quinoa is as simple as rice, just needing to be boiled until the germ separates from the seed.







In this recipe, I first smashed half of the black beans in a bowl, then combined them with the rest of the whole black beans and a boiled and diced sweet potato.

Next, I added the rest of the ingredients until combined and formed them in to patties, fired up the pan with a little bit of EVOO, seasoned the patties and cooked them in the pan.  I whipped up an avocado aioli with mayo and garlic and topped the cooked patties with this delectable spread.  I chose to eat mine without a bun, but these would go great on a fresh baked bun, ciabatta bread, or even sliced in a tortilla/wrap.

Quinoa Burgers with Avocado Aioli

Makes: 5 patties

Time: ~30 minutes

Ingredients:

Burgers

1 sweet potato, cooked, peeled, and diced

8oz black beans

2 green onions, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 c yellow onion, rough chop

1/2 c quinoa, prepared

1/4 c panko bread crumbs

1.5 tsp oregano

1 Tbsp sriracha

1 egg, whisked

salt & pepper to season

chili powder to season

1 tbsp olive oil (optional - for frying in pan)

Avocado Aioli

1 avocado, smashed

1 Tbsp mayo

1 small clove garlic, chopped

Directions:

1. Boil sweet potato for 20-3o minutes and cool.  Peel and dice.

2. Mash half of the black beans and half of the sweet potato together, then add the rest of both until combined.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients, combining with your hands and forming in to desired size of patties.

4. Season patties with a little s&p and chili powder.

5. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in frying pan to med-high heat and add patties.  Cook until brown on first side, about 4 minutes.  Flip patties and season with more chili powder and cook another 4 minutes.

6. While patties are cooking, make the aioli by combining smashed avocado with mayo and garlic.

7. Top patties with the avocado aioli.

Serve with more sriracha on top, on a bun, in a tortilla, or by itself!

Use the 'Pin It!' button below to add to your pinterest for later.  You can follow me in twitter at @veggie_ology to see more food pictures through the week.  

Happy cooking,

Nat

Avocado, Raspberry, and Goat Cheese Wrap

Listening To: Father John Misty album Fear Fun

Drinking: OJ

hello beautiful

I am going to go ahead and apologize for the amount of photos in this post.  But it was just too beautiful not to capture as many pictures as possible!

 This super simple wrap was perfect on a Sunday afternoon, but is also excellent for a midday lunch at work.  I would say it is simple enough to bring the ingredients and assemble at work even, but that might be me just getting too excited about bringing this as a work lunch. 

drool

The tartness of the raspberry, the creamy goat cheese and avocado, the bitter spinach all blend perfectly together.

perfectly diced

Obviously I love a good avocado pic.

This wrap is customized by you! Add any berries you like or more avocado, goat cheese, whatever you like.  Here's just a few more pictures for your enjoyment.

At the end I drizzled a honey dijon vinaigrette over the top, only about a tablespoon, to add a little zip.  This also would be good with a balsamic drizzle, or a honey drizzle!  Make it your own!  I also only had regular tortillas, but any special wrap tortilla would be an added bonus.

a honey dijon vinaigrette kick!

Avocado, Raspberry, and Goat Cheese Wrap
Makes: 1 wrap
Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 tortilla or wrap tortilla
handful of organic baby spinach
1/2 avocado, diced
1/4 c raspberries
1/4 c goat cheese, crumbled

tbsp honey dijon vinaigrette dressing - OPTIONAL

Directions:
1. Layer all ingredients on a tortilla wrap.
2. Wrap and enjoy!



So so SO delicious.  Is this something you would try?  Anything you would add or subtract?

As always, you can use the 'Pin It!' button below to add to your Pinterest recipe board.  You can also follow me on twitter @veggie_ology and find some extra tweets throughout the week.

Happy Cooking!

Nat

Pear + Bleu Cheese Salad

Drinking: Ice Water

Listening to: Infinite Arms by Band of Horses

Finally a new blog post! Sorry about being so long between posts- I was busy vacationing/loving my life in Colorado for the last week and didn't bring a computer with me to blog.  This magical combination of pear, green onion, avocado, and bleu cheese is truly divine.  My mom first started making this salad a year or so ago and I have adapted it to be more my style.  The nice thing about this salad is you can control how much of each ingredient you want.  My measurements are pretty "topping" heavy with not a ton of lettuce.  I love big chunks of diced pear and avocado.

The first step is to start with the chopping! Check out all of these ingredients... 

smashed garlic... the beginning of all good things

crumbled bleu

greenery

candied walnuts and green onion

a very underrated fruit

And all together, they look even better.

Then I just layered and tossed! A super simple salad, with the right ingredients.

so many green layers!

I got this sweet salad dressing mixer from one of my sisters for Christmas.  The stick down the middle has a stirrer at the bottom that blends the dressing as you pull the green loop up and down.  Also, you can spin the green loop to a locked position to keep the extra dressing in the bottle for later.  The dressing in this salad contains apple cider vinegar, red wine, chopped garlic, olive oil, salt, sugar, and mustard.

<3 kitchen gadgets

I poured the dressing on, tossed, and DONE.  So easy and so delish.

I bet you will be craving this salad after the first time you make it.  The nice thing is it makes a pretty big salad, and if you don't add all the avocado at once you can take some to work for lunch the next day.  It is definitely big enough to feed the whole family.

Pear + Bleu Cheese Salad

Makes: 6 dinner salad servings

Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

Salad

1 head lettuce torn in to bite sized pieces

2 pears, cored/peeled/diced

1/2 c bleu cheese, crumbled

1 avocado, diced

3-5 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 c candied walnuts

Dressing

1/3 c olive oil

2 tbsp red wine

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp white sugar

1 tsp yellow mustard

1 clove garlic, chopped

black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Layer all prepared salad ingredients.

2. Combine all dressing ingredients and mix well.

3. Toss salad with dressing.

You can pin this with the 'Pin It!' button below! I have added it to all of my blog posts.

Enjoy, and please let me know if you make it :)

Nat

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

Drinking: Intelligentsia Chai Tea concentrate with almond milk 

Listening to: The Lumineers album 'The Lumineers'

<3 Beta Carotene

I may be a little too excited about my new hand blender, or I am just in a cooking mood from this blog. I spent another night cooking this weekend and wanted to share with everyone before my busy week begins.  I had a taste for a sweet potato soup with carrot and ginger, so I started researching a few recipes and went to purchase some ingredients.  I ended up using a can of tomatoes with jalepenos instead of plain tomatoes due to forgetting to grab a plain can at the store. The spice in the soup was an accident, but a very advantageous one.

These ingredients looked so beautiful together.. The gorgeous, vibrant orange soup the veggies created was perfect for a chilly January night.

<3 chai

I started my evening with a mug of chai tea and almond milk.  This Intelligentsia chai tea concentrate is worth every penny. I found it at Lemon Tree in downtown Downers Grove.  Seriously, go get it now.

First step was to fire up the pot! This gem was a Christmas gift last year that remains permanently on display in my kitchen.  It is huge and red and perfect for soup/chili/stew making.  Thanks, Paula Dean, for designing such a beauty.

it's a beautiful thing

Into the pot went the carrots, red pepper, and onion with olive oil to cook until softened, about 7 minutes over high heat.

Next, I added the spices, garlic, and ginger, and continued to saute on med-high heat for just a few minutes to coat all the veggies.

Then in went the sweet potato, tomatoes with jalepeno, and veggie broth. I pre-boiled the sweet potato to make it easier to peel (about 10 minutes), so it was already soft and didn't need much more cooking.  I brought this to a boil, then turned it down to a simmer for about 10 minutes.

Now, this is where a nice chunky soup could be enjoyed, but what fun would that be when an immersion blender is made for dishes this!?  I removed the soup from the heat and blended it up. This- and all hand blender recipes- could also be pureed in a regular blender.  But honestly, you should just go buy an immersion blender so you can become obsessed too.

SO ORANGE!

And there you have it! Top with green onion to add another layer of flavor. Don't skip this step; The green onion pairs perfectly with the spice and ginger flavors. 

the sunflower bowl added an extra touch of amusement

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup
Makes: About 6 servings
Time: 45 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 large carrots (~2 cups), chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated*
6 cups vegetable broth
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced**
1- 14oz can low sodium diced tomatoes with jalepeno, with juices
2-3 green onions, to top***

Directions:
1. Cook onion, carrot, and red pepper in oil until vegetables are soft, about 7 minutes over high heat.
2. Add chili powder, black pepper, garlic, and ginger to coat vegetables.  Cook about 1-2 minutes over med-high heat.
3. Add sweet potatoes, broth, canned tomato with jalepeno with juices.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes, or until sweet potato is soft.**
4. Remove from heat and use immersion blender to puree soup completely.
5. Ladle into bowls and top with green onions.

*Use a regular spoon to peel the skin! It's super easy. The ginger intimidated me a little bit at first.
**I preboiled the sweet potatoes to easily remove skin and reduce cooking time of the soup.
***Remember this is not optional and totally necessary for deliciousness.



This soup definitely warms up even the coldest of winter nights.  Let me know when you try it!

Happy cooking,

Nat