Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 10 oz. package of frozen spinach, thawed
• 5 Portobello mushrooms
• 1 cup canned artichoke hearts
• 1/2 c parmesan cheese + extra for sprinkling on top
• 1/2 c mayo
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Method

Get your oven to 400ºF.

Brown the ground beef in a saute pan.

While the beef is browning: hold the thawed spinach in your hands and over a soup bowl, squeeze the living daylights out of the spinach. You want to squeeze out as much water as possible. Add to your food processor along with the mayo, artichokes, lemon and parmesan. Pulse it to combine. When the beef is browned, add that too. Pulse a couple times to combine it.

Now it’s time to prep the mushrooms. Remove the stem and discard (or save and make mushroom stock!). Over a bowl, or your sink, use a spoon to scrape out the black gills on the underside of the mushroom. You’re going to need to use a gentle force with the mushrooms–if you’re too rough, you’ll tear the mushroom.

Place the mushroom caps on a baking sheet, top side down. Stuff those babies with as much spinach, artichoke mixture as you can. Sprinkle some parm on top and bake until the mushrooms have cooked, about 8 minutes. Place the oven on broil and get the top nice and bubbly hot. Serve immediately.

Curried Chicken Salad

Ingredients

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 c avocado mayo*

2 t yellow curry powder

1 t garam masala**

1 1/2 c raisins

2 T mango chutney***

1 1/c c slivered almonds, toasted

handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

S&P

Method

Place the chicken on a baking sheet and bake until cooked through, about 25 minutes on 350ºF.

While the chicken is baking, take out a large bowl and  mix together the rest of the ingredients. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, chop it into bite sized pieces and place into the large bowl. Mix to incorporate.

Serve cold.

*So here it is, drum roll please….

Avocado oil makes the perfect mayonnaise.

With most oils we’ve tried to make mayo with, the flavor is quite bitter or very, “POW! in your mouth.” Bacon mayo, tastes like bacon and coconut oil mayo tastes like coconut. Think about this way, I wouldn’t want coconut oil mayonnaise in my egg salad. The avocado mayo flavor isn’t bitter, but creamy and rich–quite buttery, really. The flavor is ideal to mix with almost anything. For the chicken salad, take this recipe and double it. We sourced the oil on Amazon.com. Please notice, you get 2 large bottles.

**Garam masala is an mixture cinnamon, ginger, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, etc. You can find it at at most grocery stores.

***Mango chutney, also sometimes called Major Grey’s Chutney, is a like a sweet and spicy mango jam. You can find it at most grocery stores, on the ethnic aisle.

Imagine eating a chili dog with slaw, onions and yellow mustard. Now imagine taking off the bun and eating it in a bowl with a fork and you’ve got the idea behind this recipe. Another way to look at it, we’ve taken off the sour cream, avocado and cheese from chili and added hot dog toppings.

Ingredients

Chili Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground meat* (I used ground chicken, but anything would work)
• 1 package hot dogs, chopped (I used sugar-free beef franks from U.S. Wellness Meats)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes, juice drained, chopped small
• 1 c tomato sauce
• 2 chipolte peppers in adobe sauce, chopped finely
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1 t cumin powder

Slaw Ingredients

• 1 red cabbage, sliced thinly (The cabbage should quite small–weighing about 1 lb., you won’t need more than that)
• 1/2 c mayo
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 3 T pickled jalapenos, finely chopped**
• 5 T pickled jalapeno juice**
• 1 T yellow mustard

Method

In a medium sauce pan, cook the ground meat all the way through and then add the cut up hot dogs. Throw the rest of the ingredients in the pot and let it simmer while you make the slaw.

For the slaw, get out a large bowl and add all the ingredients, except the cabbage, and whisk to combine. Add the cabbage to the slaw base and mix to combine.

To serve, place the chili on the bottom of the bowl, then add some slaw and top with whatever hot dog fixings you like. Yellow mustard is an absolute must!

*If you’re pinching pennies, you can definitely leave out the ground meat and just use hot dogs. Chop the hot dogs rather small so they go further.

**Don’t be afraid of the pickled jalapenos or the juice. It’s not nearly as spicy as fresh jalapeno…but as always, add a little at a time and taste as you go–because you can’t take it away after you’ve added it.

Reuben in a Bowl

Ingredients for Quick ‘Kraut

• 1 small head green cabbage
• 1 1/2 c beef stock
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 1 t salt

Ingredients for Thousand Island Dressing

• 8 sweet pickle chips, chopped (dill would work too, just use whatever you’ve got)
• 1 t tomato paste
• 1 T capers, chopped
• 3 heaping T mayo
• S & P

Method

Rinse the brisket off and pat dry with paper towels. Place on a roasting pan and roast in a 300°F oven for about 4 hours. Once it’s cooled, slice thinly.

For the kraut, slice the cabbage as thinly as possible. You could use a mandoline or the slice attachment on your food processor. Throw the cabbage, beef stock, vinegar and salt into a saute pan. Let the cabbage wilt and the stock reduce, about 20 minutes.

For the sauce, mix all the ingredients together. Use some of the pickle and caper juice to thin the sauce out a bit.