A Simple Meal

Ever have one of those days where you just don’t want to eat?

OK, so this really doesn’t happen to me all that often. Believe me, I am not a woman who says no to a meal.  But tonight, nothing inspired.  I even intentionally engaged in the “what do you want to do about dinner” debate with the Husband.  I asked myself, “are you sure you want to go there?”

He: “You really want me to pick?”

Me: “The only requirement is that I don’t have to cook it.  It’s too darn hot.”

He: “Yes.”

Me: “Why don’t you grill?”

He: “No.  It’s hot.”

Me: “Hon.  That’s what people do when it’s hot.  People grill when it’s hot.  People grill because it’s hot and they don’t want to make the inside of the house hot.  You whine when the inside of the house is hot.  Would you please just grill something?”

He: “No.  Hot.”

We even brought Zilla in as a guest contributor.

Me: “Zilla, what do you want for dinner?”

Z: “Nothing.”

Me: “Why?”

Z: “I don’t want to eat dinner.”

Me: “Why not?”

Z: “Too hot.”

He finally decided the only thing he could come up with that did not involve Me in the kitchen or He at the grill was sushi from the local sushi bar.  Great idea…except I had a sushi roll and soup at that very place for lunch with a dear friend.  I didn’t want that again and I was just too lazy to search for another option on the menu.

Around 10:30 PM, finally hungry enough to forage, I came up with this…

This was a quickie.  I just sautéed some baby portabellas in red wine and topped them off with a little fresh herbed feta cheese from a local Mediterranean foods place.  This was just what I was looking for. Now I needed something pretty and green to go with them. (Hey, we eat with our eyes first, right?)  I remembered that I had these little babies in the fridge from last night…

Meet my archenemy: lima beans. I have been on a fifteen year long quest to like them.  Last night’s attempt was at last a victory!  All I did was sauté some shallots in grapeseed oil, add the limas, a tiny bit of butter for flavor, salt and pepper, parsley and thyme.  Actually delicious.  Who knew? (The friend I had sushi with today, actually.  She loves the little buggers.)

After adding some whole wheat garlic toast to the side of my baby bellas and baby limas, I enjoyed my simple supper with one of the Rotten Cats staring at me from across the table.

I wonder if he’ll do the dishes…

Sautéed Baby Portabella Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp grapeseed oil

1/4 medium onion, diced

4 gloves garlic, minced

pinch of sugar

8 oz package sliced baby portabella mushrooms

1 tsp beef bouillon granules (or equivalent cubes)

1/4 – 1/2 cup dry red wine

1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves (or use fresh, if you have any on hand)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add onions and cook until translucent, about 3-4 minutes.

Add garlic and cook about another minute.  Keep the onions and garlic moving so they don’t cook too fast and burn.

Add mushrooms and sugar.  Toss well.  Cook until mushrooms start to turn golden brown and mixture starts to carmelize.

Add red wine and beef bouillion.  Continue to cook about five more minutes until sauce starts to reduce.  You can add more red wine here, if necessary, so the sauce doesn’t thicken too far or burn.  I probably used closer to the 1/2 cup for mine.

Season with thyme.

Top with herbed feta cheese and serve immediately.

Enjoy!