Portobello Panini

I made this little "sandwich" for my husband last week as a special treat just for him. It's true, I have really embraced the mushroom lately, but I still am not quite sure if I'm ready for this Portobello Panini. Why? Because it is a sandwich where you use two halves of a portobello mushroom in place of the bread. This blew my husband's mind, in the best possible way! I tend to like my bread, so I think I could probably do this one if I sandwiched the portobello in bread, but in the meantime let me tell you about this one.

So this is an Ellie Krieger recipe, as so many of the things that I've been making lately have been. I love the fact that her cookbooks are so easy to revisit again and again and again. As my tastes change, I'm amazed at how looking through her cookbooks just makes me want to try so many more new things! It's like the gift that keeps on giving, kinda.

But back to this panini. It's so simple, and it just takes mere minutes. Simply split a large portobello mushroom cap in half lengthwise, then assemble the innards of your "sandwich." I deviated from Ellie's version a bit here, making it with prosciutto, jalapeno cheddar, and the recommended sun-dried tomatoes which have been reconstituted with some hot water. I wanted to do this as a Meatless Mondays entry, but then I remembered that I had thrown the prosciutto in there! Whoops. This would be very easy to transform into vegetarian, though. That's the way Ellie did it!

Once you have your sandwich, you can grill it up as you would a regular panini. Just brush some oil on there, throw it on a grill pan or griddle, and cook until dark brown and the cheese is melty. That's it. And when my hubby's eyes lit up at the sight of this panini, I felt so good knowing that I can whip this one up again and again with next to no time or effort taken up by it.

Portobello Panini
adapted from Ellie Krieger
makes 1 "sandwich"

Ingredients
1 large portobello mushroom cap
Vegetable cooking spray
1 or 2 large sundried tomatoes, reconstituted in hot water and sliced thinly
1 oz. jalapeno cheddar cheese (or any cheese of your choice)
1 oz. prosciutto, sliced into thin strips
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. olive oil

Directions
1. Slice the stem off the mushroom so it can lie completely flat. Slice it in half lengthwise and lay open (I turned the bottom, "gilly" part over so that it was hidden on the inside of the sandwich).

2. Spray a large nonstick skillet or grill pan with cooking spray and preheat over medium-high heat. Top the bottom half of the mushroom with the sundried tomatoes, cheese, and prosciutto. Cap with the other mushroom round. Brush one side of the sandwich with half the olive oil, then lay it oil-side down in the hot skillet. Brush the other side with the remaining oil.

3. Cook the panini for 2 minutes per side, until the mushroom is nice and dark-brown and the cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca

Sometimes, I overthink dinner. Of course, that may be obvious from just looking at my blog! Usually I like things to be high flavor, or high concept, or just exotic enough to be different. And that can be great, most of the time. There are other times, though, when you just need an easy, back-pocket chicken dinner that can be thrown together quickly and still tastes "wow." This is that type of chicken dinner.



I found this Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca staring at me from the cover of the most recent issue of Cooking Light. It looked so elegant, so beautiful and delicious, that I knew I was going to be trying it out. I've only ever had chicken saltimbocca in restaurants, and I guess I never knew that it was such a deceptive recipe to make. By that, I mean it tastes like something that took a whole lot of work, when in reality it couldn't have been simpler to assemble. All you have to do is secure a few sage leaves on each piece of chicken with a couple strips of salty prosciutto, saute the chicken until cooked through, and then make a quick pan sauce of lemon juice and chicken broth, thickened with a sprinkle of cornstarch. The dish is floral, tart, salty, and just all-around flavorful. All that, and it came from a healthy cooking magazine!

Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca

adapted from Cooking Light

makes 4 chicken cutlets

Ingredients

4 (4-ounce) chicken cutlets (or I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts)

1/8 tsp. salt

12 fresh sage leaves

2 ounces very thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 8 thin strips

4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/3 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. cornstarch

Lemon wedges (optional)

Directions

1. Sprinkle the chicken evenly with salt. Place 3 sage leaves on each cutlet; wrap 2 prosciutto slices around each cutlet, securing sage leaves in place.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp. oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan; cook for 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

3. Combine broth, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a small bowl; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture and the remaining 1 tsp. olive oil to pan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.