Tag Archives: mushrooms

Barley, Leek, Mushroom and Rosemary Gratin

Dinner Ideas, Side, Vegetables February 14, 2026 Leave a comment

This rustic dish combines grains, vegetables, and herbs for a nutritious meal. Barley offers a nutty, chewy texture and is versatile beyond soups. I found a recipe to serve with pork roast. Mushrooms are optional, but fresh rosemary is essential. Using butter enhances the flavor, and fresh herbs provide the best taste. The dish is filling and healthy enough to be a standalone lunch. You can customize it by adding vegetables like spinach. Overall, it’s a simple, tasty, and adaptable meal that promotes healthy eating and enjoyment.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of canned reduced sodium vegetable broth
  • 2/3 cup of medium pearl barley, rinsed in cold water
  • 3 leeks (white and light green part only)
  • 1/2 pounds of button mushrooms sliced
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ cup of freshly grated Swiss, or Apple smoked Gruyere cheese

Process

  1. Bring vegetable broth to a boil, add rinsed barley cover and cook barley in vegetable broth until tender about 25 minutes. Do not drain.
  2. Preheat oven to 375° F – spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
  3. Clean and slice mushrooms. I wipe mushrooms off with a paper towel. I do not “wash” mushrooms as they will retain the moisture and will not brown.
  4. Slice off root and dark green leaves of leeks, slice the remaining white part lengthwise. Run under cool water to remove sand between leaves.
  5. Slice leeks into thin slices.
  6. Remove rosemary leaves from stems by pulling downward with thumb and finger, chop fine.
  7. Heat butter in pan until melted, add mushrooms, cook until brown, remove from pan.
  8. Heat oil in same pan until hot, add leeks and cook on medium-high heat until limp, about 10 minutes, add rosemary and garlic, cook for about 1 minute more, add barley, mushrooms, salt and pepper.
  9. Stir in half cheese.
  10. Transfer barley mixture to baking dish
  11. Sprinkle with remaining cheese
  12. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated and bubbly

Mushroom & Chive Risotto

Dinner Ideas January 19, 2026 1 Comment

Creamy risotto is a classic Italian dish renowned for its rich, velvety texture and comforting flavor. Made with Arborio rice, which has a high starch content, risotto achieves its signature creaminess through slow cooking and gradual addition of broth. The process involves sautéing onions or shallots in butter or olive oil, then adding the rice to toast it lightly. Gradually, warm broth is added in small increments, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid slowly, releasing its starch and creating a smooth, creamy consistency. Preparing creamy risotto at home takes about 40 minutes, start to finish. Served as a main meal or side dish, it is so worth the effort.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of Vegetable Stock
  • 8 ounces of button mushrooms, sliced very thin
  • 1 medium onion, or shallots peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated or pressed
  • 1-1/2 cups of Arborio Rice
  • 8 ounces of grape tomatoes, quartered or sliced into thirds
  • ¼ ounce chives, snipped fine
  • 4 tablespoons of garlic butter
  • 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or substitute with Asiago, Sharp Cheddar, Gruyere, or Pecorino Romano)
  • 1 teaspoon Korean red chili flakes
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Process

  1. Heat vegetable stock in a medium pot, bring to a low simmer.
  2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced mushrooms, spread out in a layer and cook until brown on underside, flip mushrooms and continue to cook until browned and slightly crispy., Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Turn off heat and transfer mushrooms to a plate. Set aside.
  4. In the same pot, drizzle olive oil over medium heat. Add onion or shallots, cook stirring until slightly softened and very lightly browned about 2 – 3 minutes.
  5. Add garlic, rice and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter. Cook, stirring for about 2 minutes until garlic is fragrant and rice is translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Begin making Risotto by adding ½ cup vegetable stock to the pan with rice. Stir until liquid is mostly absorbed. Repeat with remaining stock, adding ½ cup at a time and stirring until liquid has mostly absorbed until the rice is “al dente” and risotto is creamy. This will take about 30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Stir in mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic herb butter, half of the cheese and half of the chives.
  8. Cook until the tomatoes are softened for about 6 minutes.
  9. If risotto is too thick, stir in a little water or more vegetable stock. Risotto should be soft and creamy, not thick.
  10. Stir in red chili flakes.
  11. To serve, top bowl with remaining chives and remaining Parmesan.

Portobello Mushroom Entrée

Dinner Ideas, Weight Watcher Friendly December 16, 2025 Leave a comment

Pick out 2 nice size Portobello mushrooms. They can be grilled or cooked on a stove top and make a wonderful replacement to a hamburger, especially if you are watching your red meat intake. Frankly, I just love mushrooms and even though Montana has wonderful beef – I wouldn’t hesitate to replace my burger with a Portobello Mushroom “burger”. Cook these up and spread with Onion Jam, horseradish sauce and place on an onion roll and you have a delicious, filling meal.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large Portobello mushrooms, wipe clean with a dry paper towel, remove stem and gills with a spoon, careful not to break the mushroom
  • 1 clove of garlic, grated
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley, thyme, or substitute with your favorite fresh cut herb

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a plastic bag, seal and marinate for up to an hour
  2. Remove mushrooms from bag and discard marinade
  3. If cooking on stove top, preheat skillet with 1 tsp of olive oil
  4. Grill or cook on stove top for 3-4 minutes on each side until soft but not mushy
  5. Split bun and place cut sides down on skillet or grill and toast
  6. Spread with onion jam and horseradish sauce, enjoy

Horseradish Sauce

2/3 cup of plain Greek yogurt

3 tablespoons of prepared horseradish

Stir together and store in refrigerator

Chicken Pot Pie Bundles – WW friendly (6 pts per serving)

Dinner Ideas, Weight Watcher Friendly January 25, 2013 Leave a comment

Chicken Pot Pie – WW friendly (6 points per serving)

Chicken Pot Pie Bundles

Chicken Pot Pie Bundles

 Ingredients

1 tsp butter

  • ½ bag of pearl onions or one small onion chopped
  • 2 cups fresh Portobello or white button mushrooms, quartered
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic grated or chopped
  • ¼ tsp tarragon
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
  • 1 cup of low fat canned chicken broth
  • 3 cups cooked skinless, boneless chicken breasts – chopped
  • 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup fat free evaporated milk, divided
  • 6 Egg roll wraps (Not the smaller wonton wrappers)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F

6 Servings

Preparation: Do not spray muffin cups with cooking spray.  Gently place 1 egg roll wrap into each cup letting the edges extend over the sides.

  1. Spray a skillet with cooking spray, add butter and melt over medium heat.
  2. Add onion and mushrooms and cook until tender, stirring frequently
  3. Add garlic and stir cooking until fragrant, about 2 minutes
  4. Add frozen vegetables, broth and chicken. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes
  5. In a small cup, combine flour and ¼ cup of evaporated milk; stir into chicken mixture.
  6. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Stir in remaining ¼ cup of evaporated milk and cook until mixture is slightly thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes.
  7. Place a generous 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture into each wrap, and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top. Fold the corners up and over the top of the filling and press to seal the edges. Spray tops with cooking spray.
  8. Bake until golden and crisp, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool slightly before eating.

Note: You can substitute low-fat crescent rolls for the egg-roll wraps; and you can line a shallow baking dish with the egg-roll wraps or crescent rolls to bake pot-pie as one dish. (May affect point values)