Spring "Break"

Well, I haven't posted in several weeks, but I do have excuses.

1. The weather has been gorgeous and I'm taking full advantage of being outside more and on the computer less
2. Ted and I are meat-free til Easter and honestly, a lot of the vegetarian recipes I've made lately have been, let's just say, less than blog-worthy. I had fully intended to fill these weeks with fabulous vegetarian posts.

I've always had some vegetarian entrees in the ole' lineup, but for this 6 week period, I really wanted to try some new recipes and be creative. But a lot of my "creativity" ended up tasting like garbage. I tried a black bean burger recipe that turned out mushy, a bulgur chili recipe that was just weird, and a slew of other things I was excited about but ended up not having the chops to execute. Sigh.

Just before my confidence fell off the cliff, A Couple Cooks came to our house for dinner and loved the quiche and herbed quinoa I made. Confidence bolstered! Stay tuned for a Spinach-Feta Quiche post, courtesy of Southern Living:)

I did have some good meatless fare around town, some I've had often and some that was new to me. So I'm posting my own sort of "Swoon List" a la Indy Monthly below:

Mama Carolla's Shrimp Fettuccini
Last week, we dropped the kids at our awesome neighbor's house and rode bikes to my favorite restaurant in Indy, Mama Carolla's. I always always alwaysget the Rosemary Chicken Lasagna (seriously, I vividly remember the first time I ordered it in 2005 and have literally never ordered another entree), but we split the Shrimp Fettuccini and it was amazing. It wasn't swimming in alfredo sauce but there were enough to coat the noodles perfectly, and the shrimp were huge and perfectly cooked. Definitely recommend.

Cafe Patachou's Tomato-Artichoke Soup
Mmmm! This soup is the best. My friend Emmalee and I used to work downtown and have weekly lunches at Patachou, and this soup was always on our table. The artichokes make it much heartier and "meatier" than average tomato soup (does Martha Hoover really do anything average?) with these huge crunchy croutons on top! We reenacted the old days with take-out tomato artichoke soup at my house with the babes, and I fell in love...again:)

Yat's Sweet Potato Iced Cookie
Yats is a well-known winner if you're doing vegetarian (we're still doing seafood, though, so I did the usual Chili Cheese Etoufee). After volunteering in my son's preschool class all morning, a quiet lunch alone afterwards sounded heavenly, so I ordered my usual (loudly, over an employee's "Sweet Caroline" serenade that I rather enjoyed), and got dessert. I don't normally get dessert there, but a gigantic, iced cookie was staring me down so I grabbed it. Wow. It was a sweet potato cookie with chopped nuts and icing. It was more like a scone than a cookie, and a perfect sweet ending to a spicy lunch. If you ever spot one of these on the Yats counter, try it!

Steamed Mussels and Gruyere Crostini

The weekend was not fun. I had my first (and please Lord, my last) sinus infection, and really didn't feel like cooking at all. I started feeling more human last night, and wandered the grocery store looking for something fun to make for dinner. I saw one last bag of Maine mussels at the end of the fish counter and snatched it up, along with a long loaf of French bread and a hunk of Gruyere cheese.

I've never made mussels. I LOVE them, but always filed them in the category of "too-easy-to-screw-up-at-home," a category I think a lot of us wrongly put a lot of seafood and shellfish. But these were so easy to do, if you know a few things up front.
First, see whether your mussels are farmed or wild (should say on the tag of the mesh bag they come in, or ask the fish monger at the counter). I recommend wild, and these require a little elbow grease. Put them in a colander and rinse them well, then pick out any cracked or open mussels and throw them out.
*Note: Ted and I made a "probationary" pile for slightly open mussels. If they're alive, they close up slowly when tapped.

Next, you have to pull off their beards. (Manly little mussels;) Its a weird black hairy string thing that you can pull off with your fingers. Give them another good rinse (don't soak in water, let them drain) and they're ready! Expect to make about a pound per person.

Now for steaming! Its all about the liquid. Traditionally, mussels are steamed in white wine or broth/stock. From there, you can use any additional flavors you want. Chili flakes for spice, miso for Asian-inspired, whatever. I had a bottle of wine on hand, and vegetable stock. I also used herb de provence.

Don't forget: you steam mussels, not boil. So just an inch or so liquid is all you need or want. And you really don't need to add salt, since the mussels release their own salty, yummy juices to help flavor the liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, add the mussels, then reduce to simmer and pop a lid on. Let them steam for 5 minutes, giving a good stir about halfway through, and you're done! Simply delicious--we dug the mussels out with a fork, swirled them around in the juice, and went to town.

You need something to eat with mussels, since they aren't exactly a filling meal. I made a really simple crostini, of sliced French bread topped with a mixture of grated Gruyere, herb de Provence, and a few tablespoons of mayo to make it creamy.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes and you have cheesy, crusty Heaven to soak up those mussel juices!

Seriously, how good does this look? And at less than $15 for the whole meal that serves 2, it beats the pants off most buckets of mussels in town.