Savannah's Best? Let's Find Out!

Any smart dog heads straight to the kitchen when dinner is being prepared. Banjo is no exception and takes his place ready to capture any items that fall from the counter in a flurry of chopping. Tonight, he inspects the recipe for a preview of what the kitchen floor may offer.

This week I, Miki, took the reins and found a recipe on Allrecipes.com for Savannah's Best Marinated Portobello Mushrooms. A quick and easy recipe from a hometown Savannah girl who has moved to Seattle, WA. It sounded like a winner for the main entree. Nancy jumped in with an idea to spruce up a couscous side dish with a toast to our inspiration cook's move to Seattle. She altered a recipe for a Warm Cannellini Beans and Herb Salad by substituting green beans and adding roasted cherry tomatoes and toasted almonds for Asian cues found so often in Seattle cooking. That seemed to pair well with the garlic and soy marinade of the mushrooms and to make a complete meal.

We liked it enough to make up a dish to take to our long time Vegan friend, Pamela a fellow teacher. We will see if she approves and maybe she will join us on the blog! Banjo seemed to approve as well as he sat close by until it was determined there would be none left for him. Maybe next week! Enjoy.

Savannah's Best Marinated Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients

1/2 cup cooking wine

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic minced

2 large portobello mushroom caps

• Directions:
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a baking dish, mix the wine, olive oil, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and garlic. Place mushroom caps upside down in the marinade, and marinate 15 minutes. Bake 25 minutes. Turn mushrooms and continue baking 8 minutes.

Nancy's Creative Couscous Salad

Ingredients

1/4 cup sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped

Handful of basil leaves chopped

1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary leaves

4 large sage leaves, finely chopped

1 container (about a cup) of cherry tomatoes/halved

3 cups chopped green beans

1/4 cup slivered almonds

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups cooked couscous

Juice of one 1 orange

Toss cherry tomatoes with a small amount of sesame oil, season with salt and pepper. Put in baking dish and bake in the oven with mushrooms for about 30 minutes. Add slivered almonds the last 5 minutes of baking.

In a large saute' pan combine the sesame oil, garlic, and herbs. Warm over very low heat for about 4 minutes or until the garlic and herbs release their aroma. Add the beans, salt and pepper to taste, and toss. Cook over low heat for about ten minutes until the beans are cooked but still crunchy. Add the roasted tomatoes and almonds. Off the heat add the orange juice and couscous and toss.

Place the warm salad on the serving platter and surround with the with the marinated portobellos.