How you doin'?

After one bite, that is seriously what I said to my sandwich. I'm wondering where this portobello cheesesteak wrap has been all my veggie life.


Portobello Cheesesteak Wrap (makes 2)

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 small or 1/2 large yellow (or red or orange) bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 portobello mushroom caps, thinly sliced (really thin)
enough water to steam-fry
salt, pepper, oregano
a couple dashes liquid smoke (optional)
1/4 cup mozza style daiya (or your favorite non-dairy mozz style cheese)
2 romaine lettuce leaves, sliced into thin ribbons
2 brown rice tortillas
dijon mustard (abt a tablespoon)

Preheat oil over medium heat in heavy skillet. Saute onions and peppers. (When the oil cooks up and the pan is getting dry, add a little water. You will probably have to do this once about 1/2 way through cooking the onions and peppers and again right before adding the mushrooms. ) When the onions are translucent and both are browning, add the portobello strips. Add oregano, salt, and pepper to taste. Continue to steam-fry until the mushrooms are dark brown and the onions and peppers are caramelized.

Stir in the daiya until melted. (I actually did this step in the microwave after putting it on the tortilla, but it made the tortilla a little too chewy, so I would do it in the pan next time)

Brown rice tortillas tend to be a little brittle, so if they feel that way, put them on a plate under a damp paper towel or kitchen towel and microwave 10-15 seconds. Don't do this until you are ready to make the sandwich or it could dry back out.

Put half of the cooked mixture in the center of one tortilla, leaving room on the ends to tuck them in. Top with half of the lettuce. Spread half of the dijon mustard on the side of the tortilla closest to you. Go almost to the edge because when you wrap it up, it will act like a glue to hold the sandwich together. Tuck in the ends and start rolling from the far side of the tortilla and roll towards you. Cut in half. Repeat for the other sandwich.

I now have a much greater appreciation for people who write recipes on a regular basis. If anything is unclear, please let me know, because I don't want you to miss out on something so easy and delicious.

Served with tomato wedges and a couple kosher dill pickle spears, this is only 4 WW points. It doesn't get much better.

ETA: I left one of my tortillas out at room temp last night and it doesn't feel nearly as brittle as usual, so it might work just to leave them out for a couple hours rather than nuking them.

Portobello Margherita and Pasta

I love Italian food. It's been a while since I've made any. Honestly, it's been a while since I've cooked much of anything. My entire body knows it. It's been screaming, "more vegetables. stat!" Today it finally got it's wish. After a yummy lunch of spaghetti squash, scallions and spinach in Fatfree Vegan's peanut sauce, I decided to try a couple recipes I found on the Weight Watchers site for dinner: The Grilled Portobello Margherita and the Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce. They are both big winners and will be made again -- a lot.

The only substitution I made in the sauce was grape tomatoes instead of campari. I even got to use fresh basil from my herb garden. (The basil and the mint are the only ones that are flourishing, so you might see more of them.) I know. I can hear you now, "But you hate basil. You say it every chance you get." I don't know what's happened. Maybe it's really another ingredient that's commonly used with basil that I don't like, or maybe I was just so proud to be using something I'd planted myself that my hatred melted away. I've never thought of using a "sauce" that hadn't been cooked, but since it was already room temp when I put it on the hot brown rice pasta, it warmed up quite nicely.

I made two subs for the Portabello Margherita: Mozza style Daiya for the cheese and real olive oil brushed on the mushrooms instead of using spray (beware of soy in the sprays!). I also cooked it in a cast iron skillet with a glass lid over it instead of on a grill or grill pan. Since I'd already made the sauce, I just put a little of that on top of the mushroom instead of slicing another tomato.

Of course as with any Italian dinner, I made a big tossed salad.

These may be "diet" recipes, but even if you're not trying to watch your weight, you'll want to dive right in. The worst part of the meal is that I'm not used to eating cheese and I burned by tongue on the Daiya. The best part of the meal is that I get to have it all for lunch again tomorrow! Hopefully, I'll be more careful :)

If you happen to be following the WW plan, the entire meal (1 serving of the portabello w/my subs, 2 servings of the sauce on 1 cup of brown rice pasta, and a large tossed salad) was only 7 points. The spaghetti squash (1 medium - abt 2 cups), scallions (abt 1 cup), spinach (about 1 cup) and peanut sauce (1/4 cup) was only 6.5.