Mushrooms, Sesame and Beans, Oh my!

I was home last weekend and after work on Saturday I was eating lunch and absentmindedly flipping through Cooking Light. They have a section every issue called cooking vegetarian and the mushroom brown-rice risotto looked fantastic! This inspired a night of cooking. I was planning on making the mushroom-brown rice risotto, southwest bean salad, and cold asian noodle salad. I made my shopping list, went to the store, cam back and began my cooking adventure. I soon discovered a major problem, I bought most of the wrong ingredients :( I couldn't find short grain brown rice so I bought risotto, I bought shiitake instead of porcini mushrooms, I forgot the parsley and the thyme and several other things. I was a little discouraged but am a fairly good cook so I decided to keep going and make it up along the way! All three recipes turned out fantastic, and I couldn't be happier!

Mushroom Risotto

1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped
3-5 cups hot water
2 Tbs olive oil
1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 cup white wine
3/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
3 tsp thyme
12 oz Risotto

-in a large pan sauté shiitake and cremini mushrooms in 1 tabelspoon of olive oil. set aside
-heat one tablespoon of olive oil in the large sauce pan over medium heat, add shallots and sauté until tender
-add risotto, cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally, salt and pepper to taste
-pour one cup of white wine over risotto, stir constantly until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed. -stir in remaining water a 1/2 cup at a time. Wait until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup.
-Stir in mushroom mixture.
-Sprinkle with thyme and Parmigiano-Reggino Cheese.
- Enjoy :)


Cold Asian Noodle Salad
-1 lb spaghetti
-6 Tbs toasted sesame oil
-1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
-1 Tbs fresh grated ginger
-1 1/2 tsp chili-garlic sauce
-kosher salt
-4 kirby cucumbers, quartered lengthwise and sliced
-4 scallions, chopped
-2 medium carrots, grated
-1 cup fresh chopped cilantro
-1/2 cup chopped peanuts

-cook the pasta, drain and run under cold water
-in a small bowl whisk together the oil, soy sauce, ginger, chili-garlic sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon salt
-in a large bowl, combine cucumbers, carrots, cilantro and peanuts.
-add the pasta and dressing and toss to combine


Southwest Bean Salad
               This recipe is from my Aunt Carolynn, she brought it over for a cook out a few summers ago and my Dad and I love it! It is super easy to make and is a great lunch during the summer.

-2 cans black beans
-2 cans corn
-2/3 cup chopped onion
-1/3 cup chopped cilantro
-1 jalapeno, minced
-Juice of one lime
-3/4 tsp cumin
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-2 Tbs olive oil
-2 Tbs rice vinegar

-Mix everything together and enjoy :)