mushrooms – Busy in Brooklyn

Salad or sandwich, you ask? (ok you didn’t ask, but I did!) I’m a sandwich gal all the way. Offer me up a plate of beautiful greens and veggies, versus a sandwich on crusty bread – I’ll choose the sandwich every time. There’s just nothing like stuffing food between two slices of carby goodness! This, my friends, is what makes the 8 days of Passover so hard for me.

The hardest part about not eating bread or gebroks ( (dishes that allow for matza to absorb liquid) over Pesach, is not having a vessel to eat my food with. I don’t smear dips over matza or eat matza pizza or matza sandwiches. Which means, I’ve got to look for things to stuff my food into. Kosher for Passover pizza omelettes, portobello pizza, chessy stuffed peppers, roasted eggplant parmesan – these are some of the recipes that get me through the holiday.

When you really think about it – it’s just 8 days, just shy of a week of going gluten free, whats the big deal, right? Somehow though, Pesach seems like an eternity. When I was growing up, we’d wait on line for hours after Pesach to get a pie of pizza. What is it about the holiday that makes us feel so deprived?

Maybe it’s that us non-grebrosters are not thinking outside the box enough. Meat & potatoes, chicken & potatoes, and eggs & potatoes really does get kind of boring. With stringent Passover customs, the lack of variety induces many-a-craving. I think that’s where the endless hours at the pizza store comes into play. Not only did we not enjoy matza pizza over Pesach, our family custom was to avoid dairy altogether – so no cream cheese on matza or even yogurt for breakfast. Breafast was always the hardest part of the Chag. We ate a lot of omelettes!

With dairy off the table, I try to come up with unique dishes, especially for breakfast/lunch when I prefer to avoid meat and potatoes!

One of my favorite breafast/brunch dishes of all time is shakshuka! Shakshuka is a classic dish of eggs poached in a peppery tomato sauce. I like to take the shortcut and use matbucha (or even marinara) as the base – but I’ve taken it up a notch here by baking the shakshuka in some portobello “cups”. This makes for the perfect base to catch all those yummy egg drippings. Sabra’s Kosher for Passover matbucha (no kitniyot) makes preparing this dish a cinch – perfect for Chol Hamoed brunch!

This show stopping dish is sure to please many-a-Passover-palate! Really, who needs some fresh hot pita when you have a roasted portobello mushroom to sop up all that rich egg yolk? Ok, ok I admit I’d go for the pita, I’m a sandwich gal after all. But for 8 days of the year, I think the portobello makes for a perfect stand in. And they’re cute too!

For the recipe, head on over to Joy of Kosher. And don’t forget to enter into Sabra’s sharesabra giveaway! All you have to do to win a $200 gift card is show and tell Sabra what you’re eating and who you’re eating it with. Take pictures of your food or family and friends at meal time and post on Facebook, Twitter or Instragram with the hashtag #ShareSabra for a chance to win.

This post was sponsored by Sabra.

Other Sabra recipes: Israeli style tuna salad

Teriyaki Mushrooms

On December 12, 2013December 17, 2013

by chanie

in Appetizer, Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Shabbos, Side Dish

20 Comments

I’m a big mushroom fan. I love all types of the fungus, well, except for the poisonous variety that’s growing in my backyard. The funny thing is, my husband never really got to appreciate them growing up because his mother is severely allergic. I found this out soon after my marriage, when we gathered for sheva brachot dinner. They were serving some kind of mushroom knish, which may or may not have been disguised as meat. My mother in law took one bite and her throat swelled up like a balloon. I don’t remember much after that, but I DO remember that every time I tried to make dinner with any kind of ‘shroom, my new husband gave me this are-you-really-going-to-serve-me-fungus-for-dinner look. But instead of putting one of my favorite veggies on the back burner, I taught him to love them. This is one of the ways.

Making these delicious teriyaki portobello mushrooms, is such a joke, you won’t believe your eyes, or your taste buds, when you eat them. Such a simple preparation and they taste fabulous. I always turn to this “recipe” when I need a quick side dish for Shabbat dinner. The platter always gets polished off to the last drop.

Teriyaki Porobello Mushrooms

6 medium portobello mushrooms
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tbsp teriyaki sauce (I use La Choy brand)
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
chopped scallions or chives, for garnish

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently clean the portobello mushrooms with a damp paper towel and trim the stem, if needed. Cut into slices. Place all the portobello slices onto a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Using your hands, stir the mushrooms immediately, so that they are well coated (if you don’t stir right away, the olive oil soaks right into the mushrooms). Drizzle the teriyaki sauce over the slices and mix with your hands to coat. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and caramelized. Garnish with sesame seeds and scallions or chives.