New Year’s Resolution: Wash Less Dishes

Or in other words cook dinner more. I’m spoiled and married a man who loves to cook and knows his way around a kitchen better than I. But truth be told, I’ve gotten a bit lazy. We have an agreement in our house that the person who prepares dinner doesn’t do the dishes. And after a long day, scrubbing a few pans and rinsing plates is much easier for me than whipping up a healthy dinner for four.

Inspired by the Food Network and armed with the recently published Sunset Cookbook {thanks Eric!}, I’m determined to learn new techniques and fall in love with the experience of preparing the family dinner.

About once a week I’ll be trying out a new recipe from the enormous volume and sharing it here. First on the plate: Crusted Portabella Burgers. I swapped out ciabatta rolls for sandwich buns and ended up guesstimating the amount of chipotle chilies (one whole one is probably equal to 4 minced teaspoons), so it was a bit hot for the kiddos. Each downed two glasses of milk to cut the spice. So if you’re looking to increase your kid’s dairy intake, this might do the trick:

Crusted Portabella Burgers

Ingredients

• 2  large egg whites
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1/3  cup  Italian-style fine dried bread crumbs
• 2  tablespoons  chili powder
• 4  portabella mushroom caps (5 in. wide; 1 to 1 1/4 lb. total)
• 4  round sandwich buns (4 in. wide; 3/4 lb. total)
• 1  cup sour cream
• 2  teaspoons minced canned chipotle chilies or hot sauce
• 1/4  cup  thinly sliced red onion
• 1  cup  spinach leaves, rinsed and crisped
• Salt
• Pepper

Preparation

1. In a bowl, beat egg whites and oil to blend. In another bowl, mix crumbs and chili powder.

2. Rinse mushroom caps; drain. Coat each cap with egg mixture, drain briefly, then coat with crumbs, shaking off excess. Set caps, gill sides down, slightly apart on a 12- by 15-inch baking sheet. Lay bun halves, cut sides up, side by side on another 12- by 15-inch baking sheet.

3. Bake mushroom caps in a 450° oven until browned and flexible when pressed, about 20 minutes. About 3 minutes before mushrooms are done, add buns to oven; bake until lightly toasted.

4. In a small bowl, mix sour cream and chipotle chilies. Spread mixture on cut sides of buns. Layer equal amounts of onion and spinach on each bun bottom, top with a mushroom cap, add salt and pepper to taste, and cover with bun top.

Recipe from the Sunset Cookbook