recipeworld

As you can probably tell, I often resort to pasta as an easy dinner. I was raised with pasta on the menu almost every night, so when I have no idea what to make for dinner, I usually make up a batch of rotini.

I used to make a lot of vegetarian pastas: pasta with olive oil, lemon juice and cayenne pepper, macaroni and cheese, fettucine alfredo and, of course, pasta with tomato sauce. But my boyfriend is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, and while he loves pasta as much as the next guy, if there’s no meat in it, it’s not dinner.

I started having to come up with pasta dishes that would please him, and this is one of them. It includes another of his favorite foods, mushrooms, as well as a lot of cheese, which he loves.

Pasta with Mushrooms

8 oz. uncooked pasta

2 tsp olive oil

10 white button mushrooms, thinly sliced

¼ lb ground hamburger meat

½ cup shredded cheese (I use Emmental because it comes pre-shredded here, but any bagged blend is fine)

freshly ground pepper

salt

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente, about six minutes. Drain and reserve some of the pasta water.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over high heat and add one teaspoon of the olive oil. Place the meat in the skillet and add salt and pepper. Allow the meat to brown on each side before turning, about four minutes total.

Remove the meat from the skillet and drain off all but two teaspoons of the fat. Add the mushrooms and more salt and pepper, and sauté until cooked through. Add the reserved olive oil if necessary.

Add the meat back to the skillet, and toss with the pasta. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Add some of the reserved pasta water if necessary. Taste for seasonings.

Quesadillas are some of my favorite foods for clearing out the fridge. You can basically toss anything in a tortilla and add some cheese, and it becomes a delicious meal. I change it up: anything from leftover chicken and cheese to onions, mushrooms, leftover steak… anything is game if it’s hiding in the fridge. You don’t even have to use Mexican flavors: you can make a breakfast quesadilla with scrambled eggs and beans, or even a pizza-ish quesadilla with tomatoes, tomato paste, cheese and basil.

I like to make my quesadillas for one, which means that I only use one tortilla. This doesn’t mean that I skimp on the fillings, however: you can probably tell from the picture that I stuff them about as full as a regular burrito.

This quesadilla gets its protein from chicken and portabello mushrooms, with onions and cheese as well. I like to put a lot of hot sauce and sour cream on top, but serving options are up to you: guacamole, black beans, salsa or even just plain. The possibilities are endless.

Chicken Portabello Quesadilla

3 oz. cooked chicken, sliced

1 portabello mushroom cap, sliced

1/2 onion, diced

2 oz. shredded Mexican blend cheese

1 whole wheat tortilla

2 tsp. olive oil, separated

Heat 1 tsp. oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms. Season with salt and sauté until the mushrooms have released all of their juices and cooked through and the onions are translucent and slightly browned. Add the chicken for a minute or two, until just heated through. Remove mixture from skillet to a plate.

Add the other teaspoon of oil to the skillet. Heat and spread evenly around the skillet. Add the tortilla, and then place the reserved filling on one half of the tortilla. Add the cheese on top, and fold the other side of the tortilla over, like an omelette. Press down to help the filling stick. Heat for one minute, and then flip to the other side. Cook until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and slice into two triangles. Serve with sour cream and hot sauce, or your choice of toppings.