Italian Veggie Chop & the Best Portabella Mushrooms You've Ever Had

Lately I've been all about produce. Zucchini, mushrooms, salads, everything I can get my hands on. I feel like vegetables are over-cooked most of the time, but they usually taste way better when only lightly cooked. The veggie chop was inspired by my craving for good fresh veggies that are cooked but still have the crunch. The portabella mushrooms are great for the grill, which sadly I don't have, but still taste amazing on the stove. I only have a picture of the veggies, unfortunately, but both turned out beautifully.

Italian Veggie Chop:

Broccoli
Zucchini
Red Onion
Red Pepper
Olive Oil
Garlic, Pressed/Minced
Basil
Oregano
Salt

-Slice all vegetables.
-Soak broccoli and zucchini in water, then place on a plate and microwave for 1 minute. Turn vegetables, and cook another minute.
-Heat olive oil, garlic, and spices over medium heat. Add all vegetables and turn constantly until coated with olive oil.
-Turn heat up to high and continue turning. You don't want to cook the vegetables all the way through, so make sure you continue turning them until they get cooked and singed on the outside only.
-Remove from heat and serve fresh!

Note: If you have a grill, you can cook them in foil too!
  
Portabella Mushrooms

Large Portabella Mushroom Caps
Olive Oil
Garlic, Pressed/Minced
Smoked Paprika
Lawry's Seasoning Salt

-Wash mushrooms lightly. Remove stem if not already done.
-Allow mushrooms to dry on a paper towel, gill-side down. Let rest 10 minutes.
-Flip mushrooms over and rub garlic into the gills. Sprinkle a small amount of each seasoning onto the gills, and pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into the gills.
-Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Place mushrooms in pan gill side up.
-Cook for 5 minutes and then flip over, gill side down. Cook 5-10 minutes and then flip.
-Continue flipping every few minutes for ~10 minutes. Serve fresh.

Note: Another great recipe for the grill : D

Summer Strawberry Lemonade Pie

Kudos to my friend Laura! We were talking about pies and she posed the question, what about a strawberry lemonade pie? The gears started turning, and I fashioned something that exceeded my expectations! I combined a lot of different ideas/recipes, but the main part of the recipe is from Food Network:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lemon-meringue-pie-recipe/index.html

Crust:

1 1/2 c Almond Meal
3 TB Sugar
3 TB Butter, Melted

-Combine all ingredients, stir until mixed well.
-Press into the bottom of a pie dish.
-Cook @350º for 8-10 min.
-Allow to cool and set aside.


Lemon Filling:

4 Egg Yolks
1/3 c Cornstarch
1 1/2 c Water
1 1/3 c Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
3 TB Butter
1/2 c Fresh Lemon Juice
1 TB Lemon Zest

-Whisk yolks and set aside.
-In a saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk together over medium heat until near boiling. Stir until sauce starts to get heavy and thick. Take off heat.
-Slowly add cornstarch mixture to egg yolks, one whisk full at a time. Combine until half of cornstarch mixture is combined with yolks, and then transfer back into saucepan with remaining cornstarch mixture.
-Cook on low heat for 1 minute, continually whisking mixture.
-Remove from heat, and add butter, lemon juice, and zest. Stir until well combined.
-Pour mixture into pie crust and bake @350º for 10-12 minutes.
-Store in refrigerator. 


Strawberry Topping:

1/2 c Water
1/2 c Sugar
1/4 c Cornstarch
Fresh Strawberries
Lemon Juice
1/4 c Cornstarch
Powdered Lemonade Mix

-Combine water, sugar, and cornstarch on medium heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
-Dice half of strawberries.  Combine with a few tablespoons of lemon juice in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.
-Add pureed strawberries to cornstarch mix at medium heat and whisk in up to 1/4 c more cornstarch until mixture starts to thicken.
-Stir in powdered lemonade mix to taste (depends how sour you like it!).
-Remove from heat and allow to completely cool.


Putting it Together:

Freshly Cut Strawberry Slices

-Make sure both the pie and topping are completely cool (I didn't and wound up with more of a custard than a pie, which was still delicious).
-Pour strawberry topping on top of pie (optional: swirl with knife)
-Place strawberry slices on top.
-Store in refrigerator until it's being served.

Paleo Crackers

Lately I've been diving into the whole paleo diet trend, and while I'm not doing it 100%, I am pleased with how healthy it's making me feel. A lot of people use this as a straight up diet, and others make it a lifestyle choice, but I prefer to slowly change over my eating habits, yet still allow myself the freedom to eat what I want. I found this delicious recipe for crackers using almond meal, and find it to be more than sufficient for cheese, hummus, etc. I see that they recently updated this recipe on the website, so I'll have to try the updated recipe, but in the meantime, here's how I made mine using the old recipe

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/paleo-primal-cracker-recipe/#axzz1z4G7Mg8u

I recommend poking around on this website too, he has some really interesting points.

Ingredients:

2 c Almond Meal
1 tsp Baking Soda
Salt to taste
Basil to taste
Oregano to taste
1-2 Cloves Garlic, Pressed/Minced
2-3 TB Olive Oil
Cold Water

Directions:

-Mix together dry ingredients.
-Add olive oil and mix with a pastry blender until well mixed.
-Add cold water one tablespoon at a time until dough gets sticky.
-Place dough on a baking sheet and cover with parchment paper. Roll dough out thin to about 1/8" thick. Slice with a pizza cutter into squares or triangles.
-Bake for ~15 min at 350º until crackers are golden.

Alternative Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 c Almond Meal
1 tsp Baking Soda
Salt to taste
Rosemary (fresh and diced finely) to taste
Thyme to taste
2-3 TB Olive Oil
Cold Water

Directions:

-Mix together dry ingredients.
-Add olive oil and mix with a pastry blender until well mixed.
-Add cold water one tablespoon at a time until dough gets sticky.
-Place dough on a baking sheet and cover with parchment paper. Roll dough out thin to about 1/8" thick. Slice with a pizza cutter into squares or triangles.
-Bake for ~15 min at 350º until crackers are golden.

Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake

I got this recipe from:

http://www.food.com/recipe/gluten-free-strawberry-shortcake-174106

I have to say, they turned out pretty nice, but one thing I dislike about this recipe is being able to taste the eggs. Next time I think I'll use fewer eggs and add some extra mass using rice flour.

Shortcake:

-1/2 c Butter
-1 c Powdered Sugar
-1 tsp Vanilla
-4 Eggs
-1 c Cornstarch
-1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder

-Beat together butter and sugar.
-Add vanilla and beat in eggs one at a time.
-In separate bowl, combine cornstarch and baking powder; mix thoroughly. Add to butter mixture slowly and beat until well combined.
-Grease muffin pans/ramekins ( I used this cute flour shaped ramekin pan I have), and pour batter in until halfway full.
-Bake at 375º for ~15 min or until golden brown on top and toothpick comes out clean.
-Remove from pan and allow to cool.

Chocolate Sauce:

-Butter
-Cream Cheese
-Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
-Sugar
-Melted Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
-Bailey's or Kahlua
-Vanilla
-Water

-Cream together butter and cream cheese.
-Add cocoa powder and sugar to taste.
-Melt ~1/2 c chocolate chips and add to mixture.
-Add 1-2 oz Bailey's or Kahlua and some water if mixture is too thick.
-Heat on stove top at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until desired consistency is reached (you want to be able to drizzle with it).
-If it's too thick, add water. If it's too thin, whisk in cornstarch a little at a time until it thickens up.

Strawberry Sauce

-Butter
-Whiskey
-Sugar
-Fresh Strawberries, Chopped 

-Combine butter and whiskey on stove top at medium heat.
-Chop strawberries and add sugar, let stand 5 min.
-Add strawberries to stovetop mixture and cook for 5-10 minutes until strawberries soften.

Assembly:

-Shortcake on bottom, dust with extra powdered sugar.
-Fill/surround with strawberries/strawberry sauce.
-Drizzle chocolate sauce on top.
-Put cool whip or whipped cream on top.
-Serve fresh!