cooking – Page 19 – Steven Savage

And for dinner tonight . . .

2 portobello mushrooms
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp soy sauce.

Optionally slice mushrooms.
Mix other ingredients together and let the mushrooms marinate for 10 minutes.
Pour mix into wok or frying pan, and saute for 10-15 minutes until mushrooms are tender (but not too tender) and browned.

This is a great recipe, and the mushrooms’ meaty quality makes them very satisfying. You can use chopped mushrooms in a wrap, eat it like a steak, or put it on a bun.

Note that if you ‘scale up’ you don’t need to double the marinade if you double the amount of mushrooms – though if you’re not chopping them you can usually only cook 2 at a time.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili is a recipe that caught my attention online and as it has a lot of things I liked, I tried it. My first result was pretty haphazard and didn’t hold the flavor well when frozen – it had a hint of good taste that quickly quashed. So after a bit of reading up I tweaked it – adding red wine vinegar and oregano based on my research (which consisted of “what other recipes are like this that have stuff I didn’t use”). So here’s what I tried tonight:

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp crushed garlic
1 medium onion, diced
2 med sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar.
1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained (about 1 1/2, 1 3/4 cups)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 15 oz can black beans, drained, washed (about 1 1/2, 1 3/4 cups ea)

1) Sauté oil, onions, garlic for two minutes
2) Add sweet potatoes, sauté until onion is soft and transparent, – about 5-6 minutes.
3) Reduce heat, add all other ingredients in order listed, stir to combine
4) Simmer, covered with slightly open lid, 20-25 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until everything is cooked and flavors are blended.

And the results?