Mushroom Madness Monday

A Triple M Monday for you- this week is a veg head friendly set of recipes or at least a bit more friendly to those who don't eat red or ground meat. Next week's installment of Triple M will be anything but vegetarian friendly, as I take you down the Meat Madness road with (meat)loaves and (meat)balls, stay tuned...).
This week though, this weeks Triple M is all about Mushrooms-
Mushroom Pasta Bake and Mushroom and Chicken casserole.

I must say that my house smelled amazing this Sunday morning as I made these two dishes that I am going to share with you today.
A-maze-ING.

I can hardly wait to dig into these. My freezer is getting pretty full and I think I maybe nearing the end of my cooking spree- but I like that I have been able to crank out quite a number of meals for us and I might have to make a habit of doing this in the future. So satisfying.

I think I might be confusing MrO though, since Saturday morning, as he ate his requisite 'two-berries' (blue berries) and butter and jelly toast he was watching me chop and saute and said, "Dinnnnnnner TIME". um, well.... sort of kid.

So are ya ready for the Mushroom madness?

 I will start you off with Mushroom and Chicken Casserole.The original recipe is from a Thanksgiving issue of Cooking Light and calls for turkey (as a means to use up all those t-day left overs). But since I only had chicken around I swapped it out, poultry for poultry, I figured. I used a canned turkey gravy that I happened to have stashed in the pantry (from who knows when) and I really like the Farmhouse brand rice (we use the Mexican and Spanish rice all the time) instead of Uncle Ben's. Pairing this with the recommended cranberry sauce when serving sounds just about perfect. Next time I might add in some artichoke hearts or something fun like that.

Mushroom and Chicken Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 (6-ounce) package long-grain and wild rice (such as Uncle Ben's or Farmhouse)

• 1 ounce French bread or other firm white bread, cubed (I used pre-made bread crumbs, about 1/3-1/2 cup)

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted and divided

• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

• 1/2 cup chopped onion

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms

• 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken

• 1 cup turkey gravy (I used canned)

• 1/2 cup 2% low-fat milk

• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

• 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried sage (omitted this ingredient because I didn't have it handy)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• Cooking spray

• 3/4 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°. (if you are making this to freeze you can skip this step)

Prepare rice according to package directions, omitting fat and seasoning packet. Set aside.(I left the seasoning in...)

While rice cooks, place bread in a food processor; pulse 15 times or until fine crumbs measure 1/2 cup. Add 1 teaspoon butter to processor; pulse until combined. Add cheese to processor, and pulse until combined. (skipped this step since I was using pre-made crumbs)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons of butter, onion, garlic, and mushrooms; sauté 7 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in chicken and next 7 ingredients (through pepper). Add cooked rice; stir.

Spoon rice mixture into a 1 1/2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture.

If freezing cover in plastic wrap and press out as much air as possible. Cover thoroughly with foil and make sure to put prep instructions either directly on the foil or on a note along with contents of the baking dish for later reference. (Thaw completely in the fridge, remove plastic and replace foil. bake covered for 30  minutes and remove foil cook until bubbly, 10-15 more minutes)

If making for eating right away, bake at 325° for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cranberry sauce.

The second recipe I am going to share reminded me of making a basic mushroom risotto, but instead of using the risotto pasta I used regular noodles. This recipe could probably be added to, zucchini, artichoke hearts, or asparagus, for instance would all be a really good fit. You could probably add in chicken, I had some extra cooked bacon that needed to be used so I chopped that up and tossed it in- ruining the vegetarianism of the dish, but....

This will be really good with a green side salad and some crunch bread I think. Again, I must thank Cooking Light for the original recipe.

Mushroom Rigatoni Bake

8 ounces uncooked gigli or radiatore pasta

2 teaspoons butter

1/4 cup sliced shallots

8 ounces sliced shiitake mushroom caps

4 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk

1 cup (4 ounces) grated Asiago cheese, divided

Cooking spray

Thyme sprigs (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well. Set cooked pasta aside.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots; sauté 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, 1 tablespoon thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic; sauté 8 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Add sherry; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Place flour in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. Bring mixture to a boil; cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; add 1/2 cup cheese, stirring until melted. Add pasta and mushroom mixture to cheese mixture, tossing well to combine.
Spoon pasta mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
If freezing for later, cover in plastic, cover in foil and mark accordingly.
To prepare frozen casserole, thaw completely in fridge. Remove plastic and replace foil. Bake for 30minutes covered and 15-20 minutes uncovered.
If baking off right away, place in a 375° for 30 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.