Saturday, February 25, 2012

Meal Plan Review

I promised I would let everyone know what I thought of the new recipes I was trying this week, but then my new computer arrived, and I had to spend a couple of days transferring files, etc. So I was offline, unexpectedly. The good news is that now I have a working disk drive, and can post the photos of our new kitchen! I will do this for my next post. For now, I would like to say that Tuesday's skillet tamales didn't rock my world. They weren't too exciting, and mostly contained a lot of corn—both cornmeal and kernel corn. Mark Bittman has another tamale recipe that calls for quinoa, and I think I'll try that one next time I'm in the mood for tamales.

Wednesday's tortilla melts, on the other hand, rocked everyone's world. I knew they would. How can you go wrong with roasted portabellas, cream cheese, pesto, tomatoes and mozzarella, all in one sandwich?

Tortilla Melts (from Moosewood's Simple Suppers)


3 T. olive oil, plus more for brushing on tortillas
1 T. balsamic vinegar
2 large portabella mushroom caps
1 small red onion
salt and black pepper
6 flour tortillas (about 8" in diameter)
3 T. cream cheese, softened
3 T. pesto (I had homemade in the freezer)
1 large tomato, sliced
6 oz. sliced mozzarella, smoked mozzarella or provolone

Preheat the oven to 450F. Lightly oil a baking sheet

In a bowl, whisk together 3 T. olive oil and the vinegar. Slice the portabellas and red onion and add to the bowl. Stir well to coat evenly with marinade. Spread on the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until the onions are softened and the mushrooms are juicy, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 350F.

To build sandwiches, lightly brush one side of two tortillas with oil and place them oiled side down on a clean baking sheet. Spread the top side of the tortillas with cream cheese. Pile roasted portabellas and onions on the cream cheese. Spread pesto on two more tortillas and lay them on top of the onions. Top the pesto-covered tortillas with tomato and cheese slices. Place the last two tortillas on the stacks and brush the tops with oil. Bake until the cheese is melted and the top and bottom of the tortillas are crisp, about 15 minutes.

Let the sandwiches cool for a minute or two before cutting.

While Baby G went for the potato, bean and arugula soup, D loved these sandwiches. Me too! Will definitely be making this sandwich, or variations thereof, again.

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