Cooking, recipes 3, 4, and 5 (Portobello steaks with glazed carrots and pistou)

I think I should number things by recipes rather than days, since I'll have days where I'm skipping and such.  Today, I made 3 different things, so 3, 4, and 5 it is.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to have to modify my cooking schedule to cook less frequently, maybe 5 out of 7 days.  Partially, this is because even though it's only been 3 days, I'm already not sure I want to keep this up for a whole month.  The other, more practical, consideration is that I'm not good at cooking reasonably small amounts.  I'm aiming for 4 portions each night -- 2 for dinner and 2 for lunch the next day. Two of the meals I've cooked so far have been 5-6 portions, though, which means leftovers are hanging out in the fridge.  Now, I don't mind eating leftovers at all, but I don't want so much that they go bad.  So, I'll see how the rest of this week goes and if I can adjust my portions, or if it makes more sense to adjust the schedule, instead.  Part of me feels like it'll be a more manageable project if I adjust the schedule, but part of me feels like I'm giving up and I've barely even begun!  We'll see.

I made two more recipes from the Fresh 20 site, and they were much more successful.  The other one was adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, which has become my go-to book for veggie advice and recipes.

Portobello steaks with glazed carrots and pistou
Ingredients

Shrunken, but not too much

Portobello steaks (adapted from the Fresh 20 site)
4 portobello caps, no stems (recipe originally suggests 6, with a serving size of 1.5 cap per person.  This seems ridiculously large to me, especially given that they also include a side recipe that I didn't end up making)
olive oil
salt and pepper
paprika (well, they actually said thyme because they seem to have a thing for thyme, but I do not)

Quick-glazed carrots (adapted from Mark Bittman's book)

Not all the liquid has yet boiled off

1 pound of carrots
1/3 cup white wine or stock or water (I used wine and water)
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
salt and pepper
paprika (that's my addition, I was on a paprika kick today)
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
Note: I ended up doubling the recipe and it worked great, though took longer

Pistou (from the website)
2 cups arugula
2 cups basil leaves
2 garlic cloves (I used 4)

Small tupperware!

1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1 plum tomato (medium-sized)
salt and pepper




Preheat the oven to 400 F.  The carrots take the longest, so get them going first.  Peel and cut the carrots into sticks or coins (I did coins because the food processor has an attachment for that, weee! Or, rather, Mu did coins because he peels carrots for me (I hate doing it for some reason) and then continued helping.  Yay, Mu!).  In a medium-sized deep pan (mine was too big), combine carrots, butter, and whatever liquid you're using.  Heat until it boils, season if you're not using stock, cover, and adjust the heat until the whole thing simmers.  Cook more or less undisturbed until the carrots are tender and there is less liquid, 10-20 minutes (longer if you have more carrots).  While that's going, brush the portobellos with olive oil and season on both sides with salt, pepper, and whatever other spice you're using.  Put them on a baking sheet cap-side down and cook until they've shrunk a bit and released some liquid, but aren't totally scrunched up (very technical, I know), 10-15 minutes.  In the meantime, make the pistou (or make it way ahead of time and store in the fridge).  In a blender or food processor, pulse the arugula, basil, and garlic into a coarse mixture.  Add olive oil slowly and blend.  Add the parmesan and tomato and blend some more until it's pretty uniform (it'll still be a little grainy).  Salt and pepper to taste.  At this point, uncover the carrots and allow the rest of the liquid to boil off.  Add the lemon juice and adjust the seasonings as needed.  Top each portobello with pistou and serve with carrots on the side!

Meal summary
Time: About an hour total, though Mu was helping with peeling carrots while I was grating the parmesan.  Carrots were probably 40 minutes total, with prep. Mushrooms were super easy, about 20. The pistou was also easy (especially if you don't grate your own cheese), about 5 minutes after the grating.
Serves: Mushrooms are for 4, carrots are 7-8 as a side, and the pistou is probably for 4-6, depending how much you want as a garnish/sauce.

Yay, colors!

Highlights/thoughts: This was much quicker and easier than yesterday's recipe, so perhaps I can give The Fresh 20 another shot.  I was glad that I added extra garlic to the pistou, though, because it gave it a nice kick that it wouldn't have had.  The paprika/lemon combo was a nice one.  I'm glad I made extra carrots, since they're a pretty versatile side.
Would I make this again? Definitely.  I know portobello steaks are the overdone vegetarian thing, but I really like how they taste, and they were so easy!  And the pistou added a great bite to the whole dish.