Happy Insides

Tahini is a wonderful thing.  It is tasty and can really be used to make a lot of yummy dishes.  Our problem with tahini is that it can be relatively expensive and it always seems to spoil before we can use it all.  That means that we tend to very rarely purchase it.  The other day while on her way to work Cassie caught the tail end of an interview on National Public Radio with a chef who had a new book coming out.  She was talking about some of her favorite holiday dishes in this new book.  Unfortunately Cassie did not catch who the chef was or what her new book was called, but she did catch her speaking about making hummus with peanut butter in place of tahini.  Peanut butter is a staple in our home and we always have some spare peanut butter around so we decided to make some hummus for a healthy snack on Christmas Eve.  We never got around to making it Christmas eve, but we did make it the day after Christmas and it was wonderful.  There isn't a huge difference from hummus with tahini, but it gives it a bit of a peanuty hint of flavor.  We both really enjoyed it.

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Cassie is a reformed picky eater.  She used to not like anything.  With some challenging from Jason she has come to realize that not only does she not hate most of the foods she was so sure of before, she really likes most of them.  For the longest time mushrooms were solidly on the hate list.  In fact it wasn't until pretty recently that she has finally has eased up on the mushroom hate and decided to give them a genuine try.  So until recently our diets have been pretty devoid of mushrooms, but now we are certainly making up for some lost time. 

As part of her Impressive Dinner, Cassie made Stuffed Mushrooms as an appetizer.  These were really simple to make and turned out really delicious.  They were a great way to start out the meal.

Stuffed Mushrooms
Adapted from Epicurious.com
3 slices sprouted grain or whole grain sandwich bread
2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
20 large cremini mushrooms + about 4 or 5 more
2 T. unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 c. celery, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t. dried oregano
1 oz. Gorgonzola cheese 
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Tear bread into large pieces and place in a food processor.  Pulse in the processor until you have breadcrumbs.  Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper till they are well coated.  Spread the breadcrumbs on a baking sheet and place in the oven to cook for 6-8 minutes.  Transfer them back to a bowl.

2) Meanwhile, wash and remove the stems from all the mushrooms.  Separate the 20 you will make into stuffed mushrooms from the extra.  Put those 20 in a baking dish cap side down and bake about 10 minutes.  Remove and set aside.

3)  While the mushrooms are baking chop the remaining extra mushrooms into a fine dice.  Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and melt the butter.  Add the chopped mushrooms, onion, celery, garlic and oregano.  Saute till the onion is golden, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let the vegetables cool slightly and then toss them with the breadcrumbs, Gorgonzola cheese and parsley.

4) Turn the mushroom caps in the baking dish stem side up and pack the empty space with the breadcrumb and vegetable mixture.  Bake in the oven for another 20 or so minutes until the filling is golden brown.  Serve warm.

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