Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms

Portabello mushrooms are exciting when you dumpster them. They're usually sealed in plastic wrap with very little wrong with them (if they're baby portabellas it might be because one or two are squishy).

Stuffed portabello mushrooms are a great addition to a barbeque or pot luck, and are extremely versatile. You can use regular sized portabellos, baby ones, cremini mushrooms for a different flavor, keep the recipe vegan, vegetarian, or ULTRA MEAT styled....plus, you can add pretty much whatever you have in the fridge that you've dumpstered recently. There are a million ways to make these, but they always come out delicious regardless because portabella mushrooms are so freaking good.

I'll give my favorite combination of ingredients...my co-worker and one of my BFFs Matt has an even better rendition of this basic recipe that doesn't use tomatoes, but he told me the recipe is an ancient Chinese secret. Basically, you only get to eat his version if you are at a BBQ he's attending. So, you'll just have to settle with my version:

STUFFED PORTABELLA MUSHROOMS


Ingredients:

- 2 portabella mushroom caps, de-stemmed (unfortunately - if they aren't de-stemmed, chop up the stems and add them in with the onions)
- Handful of diced red onions
- 12 Cherry heirloom tomatoes, quartered (any tomatoes will do, though)
- Shredded mozzerella cheese (would have preferred Parmesan in there, but whatever)
- 2 slices of bacon, crumbled (optional for vegetarians)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh sage
- 1/2 tsp fresh thyme
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp lemon juice (preferably fresh)
- Fresh ground pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes to taste
- Sprinkle of fresh parsley
- 2-3 tbsp unsalted butter or earth balance
- Italian seasoned bread crumbs (you can make them yourself from dumpstered bread if you're feeling adventurous - recipe forthcoming)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make bacon. Set aside on paper towel to be crumbled once dry.
With bacon grease still in the pan (or butter), sautee onions and tomatoes on medium-low until soft. Throw in the garlic for the last 30 seconds so it keeps its flavor.
While that's cooking, mix the olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme, and red pepper flakes in a bowl thoroughly. Brush the mixture onto your portabella mushroom caps (or marinate them in it if you have time to let them sit).
Once the tomato/onion/garlic mixture is done, put it aside in a bowl.
Add butter to your pan, turning the heat to medium.
Cook your portabellas, brushing your liquid mixture onto them frequently until they are mostly cooked (you can also do this on the grill for better flavor). Once you're finished this part, put them on a baking sheet with tin foil.
Stuff the caps with your tomato/onion/garlic mixture. Add your bacon bits, then top it off with a liberal amount of shredded mozzarella cheese and bread crumbs.
Melt 1-2 tbsp of butter down in your pan, then drizzle it over the breadcrumb top of your mushrooms.
Throw in the oven for about 7-10 minutes until your cheese melts.
Turn your oven to broil (550 degrees) and keep a close eye on your mushrooms - take them out once the tops begin to brown. BEWARE - they will burn quickly!
Take them out, sprinkle with parsley, and you're done!

Items not dumpstered or donated: Bacon, garlic, rosemary (from garden), sage (from garden), thyme (from garden), parsley (from garden), mozzarella, butter, olive oil, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, pepper & salt

Spicy Chipotle Cream Sauce + How to Roast a Pepper

If you dumpster often, you know that you find bell peppers (and various types of peppers) a lot.

Pickyourown.org has pretty exhaustive tips and instructions on canning, and roasted peppers are one of my favorite things to can (you can also can raw bell peppers on their own, you just need a crapton of vinegar and canning salt to make it work).

Even if you don't want to can your peppers, roasting them will still make them last about 2 weeks longer in your fridge.

You incidentally also need roasted bell or chipotle peppers for this dish I'm about to lay down:

HOW TO ROAST A BELL PEPPER

It's actually uber simple! When you roast bell peppers, they unlock the pepper's sweetness. Just take your pepper, de-stem/seed it, then stick it in your oven or toaster oven (to save power) at about 400-500 degrees until the skin turns black (rotating it from time to time so it cooks evenly). Let it cool down, and the skin should come off easily with your hands or a knife (but be careful - the pepper will be smokin' hot). Slice it up and you've got yourself some roasted bell peppers.

You can use these for canning, puree them for an amuse bouche, pasta sauce, pizza, whatever. Get creative.

And now:

SPICY CHIPOTLE CREAM SAUCE (w/ Pasta and Stuff)

Ingredients:

- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup of fresh or canned corn (about 1/2 a can)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/2-1 portabella mushroom cap
- Pasta of some sort (I used rotini)
- 1/2-3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
- Cumin, nutmeg, basil, rosemary, red chili powder (hot), and salt & pepper to taste
- 1-2 roasted peppers (I used 1 orange pepper and a small red pepper from my garden):
Melt the butter in a medium pan.
Throw in the onion and mushroom on medium heat. Allow for the onions to become translucent and the mushroom to become soft. When they're almost finished, throw in the garlic, roasted red pepper, and corn.
Set your water to boil for the pasta and boil pasta as you finish the next steps.
Turn heat on veggies to medium-low.
Add cream (make sure the pan isn't too hot, or it will scald the cream). Continue stirring often while the sauce thickens so it doesn't coagulate.
Add red chili powder, cumin, and nutmeg. The nutmeg is what rounds out the creamy flavor of the sauce (pretty much every cream sauce in French cuisine will have some nutmeg in it for this reason), so don't be shy with it.
Add rosemary (fresh), basil (fresh), salt, & pepper to taste.

Once you've found a nice balance for your sauce, throw everything over your pasta and enjoy.


Items not donated or dumpstered: 1 red pepper (garden), whipping cream, basil (garden), rosemary (garden), butter, spices

Herb + Mushroom Risotto

I dumpstered two crumpled (but unopened) boxes of Trader Joe's Mushroom & Herb Risotto around June last year and hadn't used them yet (because dry goods pretty much last forever). This isn't unusual in the dumpstering world; stores throw out food with "ugly" packaging all the time, even when the contents are still good.

Plus, I have a soft spot in my heart for rejects. This package looks like a kitten at the SPCA, begging to be given a home.

I followed the instructions on the box, using chicken stock to cook the risotto. If you use veggie stock or water, then the dish is vegetarian. I also added a previously dumpstered portabello mushroom (sauteed in olive oil) that was about to go bad and basil from my window garden.

It was super-yummy and fed me at work for a few days.


An advantage to dumpstering dry or frozen goods is that they require significantly less preparation time and have a long shelf life. So, when I only have 30 min. to cook before I need to run out the door, dry goods are a nice option.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Olive oil, chicken stock, basil (from garden)