Spinach and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

This is another recipe I found on the Skinnytaste blog.  It was good but I think I needed bigger mushrooms because all my filling kept falling out. 

The original recipe is found here.

Ingredients:

• 14 oz (1 package) fresh mushrooms (remove stems)
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced thin  (I used minced garlic)
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach
• 4 slices center cut bacon (I cheated and used Hormel real bacon bits)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Take the stems from the mushrooms and mince them.

Take the minced stems, garlic and olive oil and saute in skillet for a few minutes.  Add in spinach until it starts to wilt.

In a bowl, combine skillet contents with the remaining ingredients (minus the actual mushroom caps)

In a muffin tin place the mushroom caps and stuff with the contents of the bowl.  I found this works great because then the mushrom doesn't slide all over the place with you remove the tray from the oven.

Cook for 20 mins in oven until slightly browned.

Zucchini Pizza Boats

Around this time of year I'm always faced with the issues of zucchini burn out.  I've made loaves of zucchini bread.  I've grilled zucchini on the grill.  I've used zucchini for stir fry.  I'm just getting tired of the lame ass options for zucchini prep that I'd always gone to.  So I decided to do an "Ode to Zucchini" and experiment a little.

On the Tasty Kitchen website I found an interesting little recipe for "Zucchini Pizza".  It looked intriguiing and almost like I wouldn't feel guilty for gobbling down an entire tray in one sitting of this yummy creation.  Score!

And it lived up to all the hype and then some!

The link to the original recipe is here.

Ingredients:

• One zucchini (cut into small strips lengthwise)
• olive oil for drizzling
• Salt
• Pepper
• Spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu traditional...why?  because it was on sale)
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese
• Toppings (I used sliced mushrooms and pepperoni)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Cut off ends of zucchini and slice lengthwise into several pieces. Place on a baking sheet or glass dish. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Lay flat on the pan. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of sauce over each zucchini slice until the entire slice is covered. Sprinkle with approximately 1 to 2 tablespoons of mozzarella. Top with any toppings you like or none at all. Bake for 15 minutes, until brown and bubbly.

Baked Tomato, Mushroom, and Spinach Wheels

So this probably isn't a good tailgating recipe in itself.  I haven't tried it yet but I'm thinking that putting one on a piece of grilled chicken would be super yummy.  We'll see if our tailgating crew would agree.

Ingredients:

3 Large Red Tomatoes
Box of frozen chopped spinach
Sliced mushrooms (about 2 cups worth)
1/4 stick of margarine
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
Garlic salt
Lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar

Directions:

Slice tomatoe and marinate in Balsamic Vinegar for 4-6 hours
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Thaw the frozen spinach and drain water
In a frying pan saute the spinach, butter, few squirts of lemon juice, and mushrooms until tender
Season with a few shakes of pepper, salt and garlic salt.  Set aside.
Bake marinated/slice tomato in the oven for 7 mins
Put a generous scoop of the spinach/mushroom mix on each tomato wheel.  Top with the cheese.
Broil in the oven until cheese is bubbly.

   

I know I went a little cheese crazy.  The baby was crying though so the best I could do was to just toss the cheese everywhere and throw it in the oven :-)  They were good even if they didn't look pretty.