When the hubby is away...

I get to eat one of my favorite things Portabella Mushrooms... Luke has yet to really enjoy the texture of mushrooms but is getting better at it. He will eat them if they are mixed up in something, but I do not think I will ever get him to eat just a portabella for dinner. So since I had 3 large portabellas in the fridge I decided to make one of them for dinner last night with a side of vegan red beans and rice (recipe from fat free vegan, but changed it a bit).

The recipes is as follows:

Portabella Mushroom

1 portabella mushroom gills removed

Marinated for 10 min or so in:

Some balsamic vinegar

soy sauce

and a little liquid smoke

Broiled mushroom 5 min on each side

in the meantime sauté some onions in very little olive oil

once they are almost done add a hand full of spinach

take mushroom out of broiler and top with onions and spinach

Red Beans and Rice

1 can of low sodium red kidney beans drain and rinsed well

4 cloves garlic

1/2 very large onion

3 ribs celery

1/2 large bell pepper

1 teaspoons thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

1-2 (depending on how spicy you like it) teaspoons chopped chipotle pepper, in adobo (this is not traditional but lends a smoky taste or you can substitute another tsp. of Liquid Smoke seasoning if you prefer)

1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke

Cooked brown rice, to serve

Put the beans a pot and cover them with water 1 inch above level of beans. Put over med-heat to begin cooking while you prepare the other ingredients.

You're going to want to chop the garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper very finely, and the fastest and best way to do this is in a food processor. I throw the 4 peeled cloves of garlic in first, and then add the onion, quartered, and pulse until finely chopped. Add this to the pot on the stove, and then do the same thing with the celery and bell peppers, adding each to the beans. Add the remaining ingredients, except the rice.

When the beans reach a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring every now and then, about 30min. put everything in the food processor in batches if you do not have a large one like I do and puree the beans and veggies...Check the seasonings. Add any additional spices you want, and cook for at least 10 more minutes, it should be a little thick then serve over the brown rice... Yum...