Musings on Momentum

design a life you love

Shrimp and Asparagus Stir Fry

File today’s recipe under the “dinners we eat once a week” category.  Much like the oven baked salmon recipe I shared a few weeks back, this easy and healthy shrimp and asparagus stir fry makes an appearance on our table more often than I’d like to admit.  Who can blame me for defaulting to it?  It’s quick to whip up, offers an additional dose of vegetables and I just can’t get enough of the tangy combination of ginger, soy sauce and shrimp.  Add in a crisp glass of white wine and an evening warm enough to dine on our balcony and you’ve got the recipe for a perfect spring night as far as I’m concerned.

Shrimp and Asparagus Stir Fry

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Lactose Free Chicken in Cream Sauce

For each of my childhood birthdays my mom would prepare a special meal and dessert for me; it could be anything I wanted.  Without fail, I would request the same dinner every single year – a super rich chicken in cream sauce recipe.  Having it for my birthday was our family tradition up until I moved to California six years ago.

With a monumental birthday coming up (the big 3-0) I found myself homesick and longing for my mom’s chicken and cream sauce.  I had never previously attempted to make it but figured that I had enough cooking experience under my belt to give it a try.  My mom still had the recipe handy and sent it to me but there was one problem…I have cut lactose and gluten out of my diet and the original recipe was heavy on cream and flour.  Hmm.

Substituting almond flour for regular flour seemed straight forward enough, but what to do about the cream…  Fortunately for me, Google exists and was able to provide a plethora of alternatives.  I threw caution to the wind and went with the most basic option I could find – substituting 2/6 cup of soy milk and 1/6 cup of oil for 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  The consistency seemed okay.  Not perfect, but okay.  And flour behaves like flour so the recipe should work, right?  Wrong.

Now, this was in no way a complete disaster.  It just didn’t taste exactly like my mom’s and that turned me into an emotional mess.  Neither the meal or the pictures came out quite how I wanted them to and I considered not posting this entrée at all.  It was my mom who encouraged me to go ahead with it as planned because it’s a recipe that means a lot to me, it still tasted amazing and, as she pointed out, maybe somebody out there has a suggestion for how to improve it next time.  So without further explanation or ado, I give you…

Lactose free chicken in cream sauce IS possible with just a few simple substitutions!

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Crab Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

To properly celebrate moving into our beautiful new home I wanted to prepare a dinner for us that was a departure from what I normally cook.   In my mind our splendid new home ought to equal a proportionately exquisite feast (at least for one night).  After putting some thought into it (and scouring Pinterest for ideas) I settled on attempting to make crab stuffed portobello mushrooms.

I selected a crab-based recipe because my fiance and I adore seafood.  My love is deep rooted and comes from growing up in Seattle tasting the freshest of the fresh catches available.  This recipe ended up feeling very Pacific Northwest…the rich, almost smoky taste of the portobellos combined with the texture of the crab and fresh organic vegetables lends itself to a quintessential PNW taste.  Eating it even made me, dare I say it, a little homesick.

I took inspiration from several recipes but ultimately created my own based on what I felt would best suit our taste buds.  The end result was a mouthwatering treat of a meal that I immediately wanted to share with all of you!

Crab stuffed portobello mushrooms

The beautiful end result.

portobello mushroom

An elegant portobello

vegetable stuffing

Cooking vegetables for the stuffing

crab stuffed portobello mushrooms

Stuffed portobello mushrooms ready to be topped in parmesan and paprika.

Pushing myself to experiment with textures and flavors was an incredibly rewarding experience.  While I will not be making these crab stuffed portobello mushrooms on a regular basis I am thrilled to have this beautiful, delicious recipe in my arsenal and ready to pull out on special occasions.  Please let me know if you give these a try!

Crab Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
crab stuffed portobello mushrooms
Crab Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Print Recipe
These delicious crab stuffed portobello mushrooms are sure to be a hit as an impressive, flavorful appetizer or as a savory main course!
Servings Prep Time
4 people 30 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 people 30 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
crab stuffed portobello mushrooms
Crab Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Print Recipe
These delicious crab stuffed portobello mushrooms are sure to be a hit as an impressive, flavorful appetizer or as a savory main course!
Servings Prep Time
4 people 30 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 people 30 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: people
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees.
  2. Wipe mushrooms clean, cut off stems, and scoop out gills (set aside stems and gills for later).
  3. Chop orange pepper, celery, green onions, and mushroom stems and gills into small pieces. Chop parsley.
  4. Heat a splash of olive oil in a pan adding in onions and celery. Saute for 3-4 minutes until celery starts to soften.
  5. Add mushroom bits to the pan and heat for another minute. Remove pan from stovetop.
  6. Shred crab meat and mix with thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
  7. Add in sauteed onions, celery, and mushroom along with remaining olive oil, lemon juice, and parsley. Mix well.
  8. Brush stuffed portobello mushrooms in oil.
  9. Place mushrooms in baking dish.
  10. Fill each portobello with 1/4 of mixture.
  11. Top stuffed portobellos with shredded parmasean and a sprinkle of paprika.
  12. Bake for 15 minutes (or until tender and tops have browned)
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Savory Gourmet Tuna Melt

Mendocino Farms gourmet tuna melt

Tuna melts and I go way back.  When I was growing up, my mom would always make them for us on nights when my dad had to work late.  They were a special treat for the two of us because my dad inexplicably despises tuna melts (he’s weird) so we never ate them when he was around.  Fast forward a couple of decades to when my new boyfriend (now fiance) brought a tuna melt from Mendocino Farms on a date to the Hollywood Bowl, forever rekindling my love.

Unfortunately my body’s tendency to reject gluten and dairy briefly put a damper on this tuna melt obsession of mine.  Regardless of how delicious something is, it is difficult to justify consuming a meal that you know will negatively impact every system in your body within an hour or two.  This led to a very dark, tuna melt-less year.  I finally decided that enough was enough, I would not be held back from my one true food love, and created a gluten free, lactose friendly version.  This gourmet tuna melt recipe is based on the one from Mendocino Farms, the tuna melt that is the king of all tuna melts.

Gourmet Tuna Melt

Parsley, green onion and lettuce

Gourmet Tuna Melt

Melting  white cheddar cheese

There are several differences in ingredients between my gourmet tuna melt and the one from Mendocino Farms which I address below, but my taste buds feel (and my fiance’s agree) that this recipe comes pretty close to capturing the magical taste of theirs.

 

Gourmet Tuna Sandwich

I hope you will give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as we do!

Gourmet Tuna Sandwich
Savory Gourmet Tuna Melt
Print Recipe
This gluten free, lactose friendly version is a delicious zero-regret way to satisfy your tuna melt cravings!
Servings Prep Time
4 10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Gourmet Tuna Sandwich
Savory Gourmet Tuna Melt
Print Recipe
This gluten free, lactose friendly version is a delicious zero-regret way to satisfy your tuna melt cravings!
Servings Prep Time
4 10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Mix together all ingredients in bowl (tuna, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, parsley, green onions, garlic powder, paprika, pepper, salt)
  2. Oil or butter the outside of each slice of bread
  3. Place two slices of bread in skillet over medium heat, oil side down
  4. Once bread begins to slightly brown, top one slice with tuna
  5. Top piece of bread with tuna with slice of cheese and add other slice to other piece of bread, allow to melt slightly
  6. Add lettuce to slice of bread with tuna and cheese, then top with other slice of bread, cheese side down
  7. Flip occasionally and cook until cheese has melted and bread is golden brown
Recipe Notes

The Mendocino Farms tuna melt contains tomatoes and pickles and uses red onion instead of green.  I don't like pickles and generally leave out tomatoes, but I'm sure the addition of both would only make this more delicious!

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