Category Archives: Mushrooms

Asian salmon and noodles

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Julia

This week turned out to be quite busy again, and it’s during the weeks like this one that I love simple weeknight dinners, such as this Asian salmon and noodles. You might have noticed that this pasta dish is strikingly similar to my recent recipe for spicy Asian noodles with mushrooms and snow peas, including the trivia that I manually counted 60 snow peas. In fact, the only difference between these two recipes is the presence of salmon in our today’s dish. The fact that I am this non-creative with the today’s recipe underscores how tired and short on time I am this week.

The salmon and noodles cooked Asian style that you see on the photos are so flavorful, that this dish quickly became a favorite in and outside of our home! And, it take such a short time to make this that I’ve been feeding this dish to my family LOTS of times. I am surprised they are still not tired of it. So, I know your family will love this recipe if you like good Asian food! And, like it should be on a busy weeknight, the recipe is quick, easy and requires no mental power! Continue reading →

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Posted in Dinner, Fish, Mushrooms, Pasta, Recipe, Salmon, Snow peas, Vegetables | 22 Comments

Spicy Asian noodles and mushrooms, with snow peas

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Julia

For the last several weeks, these spicy Asian noodles and mushrooms became my staple dish on Monday nights (or any other days that are similar to my hectic Mondays). It’s very easy to prepare; takes at most 40 minutes from start to finish, and it’s very tasty. The dish is versatile – you can eat it as a vegetarian version, or you can add already cooked fish or meat to it.

This is my perfect recipe for Monday nights. If your Mondays are anything like mine (busy from 9 to 5 with reports and excel spreadsheets at work, plus everybody is trying to catch up with me at the same time), then you will thank me for this recipe. It’s mindless, simple, you can do this dish on an auto-pilot, because this recipe does not require much thinking or fiddling. And, in the end, you’ll surprise yourself with the dish that’s quite excellent in flavor. Continue reading →

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Posted in Green onions, Mushrooms, Pasta, Recipe, Snow peas, Vegetables, Vegetarian | 25 Comments

Ravioli with goat cheese and spinach filling in parmesan cream sauce

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Julia

My ravioli mold proved once again that 26 bucks I spent on it was not a waste of money. After I posted my first recipe for ravioli in a red, tomato-based sauce, I got obsessed with the thought of making the ravioli in a different type of sauce, this time – white, creamy, and cheese-based. And, I didn’t want ravioli to be filled just with cheese as most store-bought ravioli seem to be: instead I wanted a veggie and creamy ravioli filling, and goat cheese and spinach proved to be a perfect match for each other. I am very happy to present you with this simple recipe for ravioli with goat cheese and spinach filling in a light Parmesan cream sauce with mushrooms. Continue reading →

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Posted in Cheese, Dinner, Goat cheese, Mushrooms, Parmesan, Pasta, Ravioli, Recipe, Vegetables, Vegetarian | 31 Comments

Easy chickpea and vegetable curry with quinoa

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Julia

I’ve been craving for a simple vegetarian dinner that I could just whip up in the matter of 30 minutes, and so this very easy chickpea vegetable curry recipe with quinoa was born. Let not the simplicity of this dish fool you, though: it is still a very filling veggie dish, and it rightfully deserves to be called a main course. You won’t go hungry after enjoying curry flavors, chickpeas, mushrooms, and spinach in a creamy coconut broth, on top of protein-rich quinoa. Continue reading →

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Posted in Dinner, Green onions, Mushrooms, Quinoa, Recipe, Red curry, Spinach, Stew, Thai, Vegetables, Vegetarian | 13 Comments

Creamy mushroom pasta with caramelized onions and spinach

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Julia

Creamy mushroom pasta sauce sounded really good on my first night at home, after I have traveled for business through 3 different states last week and have gone out to restaurants for dinner almost every single night for the last 10 days. Homemade pasta dishes are something I always crave after lots of traveling and eating out. While I really enjoyed the social interaction that comes from having restaurant dinners with co-workers and friends, I realized once again what a home-buddy I have become and how I longed to be back in my kitchen.

Long time ago, however, there were times when I did enjoy eating out a lot and it was the norm to have dinners out at least 3 times a week. The norm of the recent years for me, though, is to eat out maybe once a month – I wonder if that’s normal or have I become home-bound too much? So not having dinner (or breakfast, or lunch) at home 10 days in a row sort of threw me out of my routine. Continue reading →

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Posted in Cheese, Dinner, Mushrooms, Parmesan, Pasta, Recipe, Shiitake Mushrooms, Side Dish, Spinach, Vegetables, Vegetarian | 17 Comments

Creamy mushroom soup with Shiitake

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Julia

In between the Christmas cookie recipes, I have to fit in this cream of Shiitake mushroom soup I made last week from scratch without using any heavy cream, and using only 1.5 cups of half-and-half. And, by the way, you can use any type of wild mushrooms in place of Shiitake. I’ve made this soup years before, with different types of mushrooms, and it’s always been popular with the family, and I thought it would be nice to make a rendition of it during the holidays this year. Warm and hearty mushroom soup is so welcome on cold winter nights, as a prelude to any dinner. In fact, for the past 2 weeks, a bowl of this mushroom soup or a carrot-lentil soup always awaits me and my husband as a warming appetizer before dinner. And I wholeheartedly recommend the same for you: fill yourself up with soup before dinner, and you won’t be as hungry and will probably eat less for dinner. Continue reading →

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Posted in Appetizer, Carrots, Christmas, Green onions, Mushrooms, Onions, Recipe, Shiitake Mushrooms, Soups, Thanksgiving, Thyme, Vegetables, Vegetarian | 18 Comments

Lamb Shoulder Chops with Shiitake Mushrooms, Swiss Chard and Mascarpone Cheese Polenta

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Julia

Sometimes, I want a special dinner, which looks sophisticated like a main course from a fine dining restaurant, but which is easy to make. It took me exactly 1 hour to make this dinner, even though it looks much more complicated, due to the number of ingredients and the fact that it has basically 3 small side dishes (Polenta, Swiss Chard, Grape Tomatoes) plus mushroom based sauce. The key to the simplicity of this dinner is that the only 2 “sophisticated” parts of it are the sauce and the polenta. The rest of the dinner is pretty basic and easy to make. Continue reading →

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Posted in Carrots, Dinner, Lamb, Mascarpone cheese, Mushrooms, NaBloPoMo, Onions, Polenta, Recipe, Shiitake Mushrooms, Swiss chard, Tomatoes, Vegetables | 2 Comments

Filet mignon steak with mushroom red wine cream sauce

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Julia

This was a very special dinner. A couple of days ago my husband opened a bottle of 1987 Chateau Margaux (red Bordeaux wine) for a wine testing, and we had to drink it last night because the bottle was already open. This wine was bottled when I was 9 years old. Where does the time go? I feel old. Well, we don’t drink wine like that every day, and special wine requires something special for dinner. So, I sort of had to do backward wine pairing, choosing the right dinner to go with this particular wine. There aren’t many main courses out there that go with a fine red Bordeaux better then prime steak. Continue reading →

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Posted in Beef, Bell Peppers, Dinner, Filet mignon, Mushrooms, Recipe, Steak, Vegetables | 20 Comments

Puff pastry pizza with bell peppers, mushrooms, and Mozzarella cheese

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Julia

I decided to participate in Weekend Cook and Tell Event at SeriousEats.com and my photo was featured in their Round Up again, 2nd week in a row!!! For this weekend, the event was about making anything with puff pastry. I love puff pastry, and for some time have been on a serious puff pastry kick, which is why I have lots of it in my freezer. So I thought, how easy and convenient, I already have it in my freezer, I also have bell peppers and mushrooms that are about to rot, and there is a big brick of Mozzarella cheese in my refrigerator. Why not put all four ingredients to practical use and create an easy appetizer – small pizzas? Continue reading →

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Posted in Appetizer, Baking, Bell Peppers, Cheese, Mozzarella, Mushrooms, Parmesan, Pizza, Puff Pastry, Recipe, Vegetables, Vegetarian | 27 Comments

Thai soup Tom Ka with red curry, coconut milk, chicken, and quinoa

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Julia

Tom Ka is a Thai soup with coconut milk, red curry, lemon grass and is one of my most favorite soups. If you buy it at a Thai restaurant, it is usually served with white rice. What I usually do though is substitute white rice for quinoa, because, let’s be frank, plain white rice tastes bland, looks washed out and is really just a waste of calories.