Until a few years ago at a holiday party, I thought I hated stuffed mushrooms. I'd never actually tried them before that but I wasn't a huge fan of mushrooms and it seemed to me like no matter what you stuffed them with, they could't possibly taste that great. I was very, very wrong. The older I get, the more I like mushrooms - they're still not my favorite on their own, but the earthy, rich, almost meaty flavor they lend to dishes is both impressive and delicious, as far as I'm concerned.
​Anyway, a friend brought some stuffed mushrooms to that holiday party a few years ago, I tried them, and before I knew it I was popping button mushrooms in my mouth like they were going out of style. I was hooked! But that was over two years ago, and this is the first time I've made a stuffed mushroom recipe since that is just so out of this world I had to share it with you guys. I know there are tons of recipes for this dish online, but I promise this one is really good. And pretty easy, too! It's packed with flavor, the filling has great texture, and the homemade parmesan cheese on top adds some fanciness and helps keep the filling moist. The whole things comes together in your mouth like WOAH. This is a recipe worthy of sharing at your next Holiday party - it's a serious crowd-pleaser! Let's get cookin'.

INGREDIENTS
Stuffed Mushrooms:
24 ounces cremini mushrooms, stems removed
2 tablespoons coconut oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, chopped
4 cups fresh spinach
​1 cup wild rice, cooked
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
fresh chopped parsley, for garnish
​
Parmesan Cheeze:
1 cup cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
​1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Gently wash the mushrooms and remove the stems. Place them cap down onto a lined baking sheet and set aside. 

In a large cast iron pan, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. Sauté the garlic and shallots until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach, stirring continuously until it has wilted. 

Remove the pan from heat and pour the cooked veggies into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the wild rice, roasted red peppers, walnuts, bread crumbs, parsley, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss the mixture together and set it aside to cool for a few minutes. 

While the mixture cools, you can prepare the parmesan cheeze by placing all of the ingredients into a food processor and pulsing until the mixture becomes a fine meal. Save some (about 1/4-1/2 cup) to sprinkle over the mushrooms and save the rest in an airtight container in the fridge up to 2 weeks. 

When the mixture has cooled enough to handle, use a spoon, ice cream scoop, or your fingers to scoop the mixture into the cap of each mushroom. The amount you use will vary depending on the size of the mushroom cap. Once all the caps are filled, sprinkle the reserved parmesan cheeze over the top.

Bake the stuffed mushrooms for 20-25 minutes, until tender. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and serve immediately! 

NOTES
It was hard to come up with just how many people this serves since it really depends on how big the shrooms are, how many people are around, and how many each person eats BUT this recipe gave me 1 packed baking sheet full of stuffed mushrooms.

Leftovers can be saved in the fridge up to 3 days. They are best reheated in a microwave or in an oven at about 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, though they may get slightly softer after reheating. 

The day(s) after Thanksgiving are my favorites. Instead of dressing up and stuffing my face, I get to lay around the house is the coziest of sweat pants, stuffing my face with leftovers. Things just always seem to taste better the next day. And these are no exception! There's not so much a recipe here as a meal idea and a great way to get creative with leftovers. We like sliders because they're easier to whip up than a whole sandwich and still taste great, plus they help us use up our yeasty dinner rolls before they hit that 2nd day after mark and start getting a little...rock hard. Anyway, you get the idea! A little less talking, a little more assembling tiny, adorable leftovers finger sandwiches. Let's eat!

INGREDIENTS
LEFTOVERS! 
We used:
4 dinner rolls
1/4 cup goji cranberry sauce
1/2 cup cranberry apple walnut stuffing
1/2 cup celeriac mashed potatoes
1/2 cup easy miso gravy
a few sprigs of fresh thyme

DIRECTIONS
In a microwave or over the stove, reheat your favorite Thanksgiving leftovers. 

Cut dinner rolls in half, then top with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes + a hearty dollop of gravy. Garnish with fresh thyme, and serve immediately. Enjoy!

NOTES
These are pretty customizable. Use whatever leftovers you have!

For years, the only stuffing I'd ever eaten was the weird, kinda mushy, from-a-box version that only came out at our place on Thanksgiving and Easter. And it was okay, but I had no idea what I was missing. I don't remember the first time I had a crusty, moist homemade stuffing, but it changed my mind forever. Once you've had the real thing, you just can't go back. This year I'm tackling stuffing and officially making it my favorite side dish. It tastes great smothered in mashed potatoes and sopping up gravy, and packs much more flavor than you'd imagine for such a quick + easy recipe. It's sweet and savory and looks lovely with all the color from the vegetables peeking out. The walnuts add just a touch of texture and earthy flavor, and the apples and cranberries balance everything out. Missing an ingredient? Sub in something else you love! This recipe is easy to make your own and tastes great just about anyway you serve it. Let's eat!

INGREDIENTS
8 cups stale sourdough bread, cut into 1-in. cubes
2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 medium red apple, cored and chopped
1/4 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped
1 teaspoon each salt + pepper
2 cups vegetable broth 
​
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cube up your stale bread and set it aside in a large mixing bowl.

In a large cast iron skillet, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. Sauté the garlic, celery and onions until softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add apples and cranberries and continue to cook until apples soften, about 3-4 more minutes. Sprinkle in walnuts, sage, salt and pepper and toss to incorporate. 

Pour the vegetable mixture into the bowl with the cubed bread, and stir. Pour vegetable broth over the mixture, stirring to evenly coat all the bread with liquid. The bread will absorb most of the liquid, but there should be some left. 

Pour the entire stuffing mixture into a greased baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, until stuffing is becoming golden brown and making the kitchen smell delicious.  Pull it from the oven and serve immediately. Enjoy!

NOTES
To reheat, you can place the entire baking dish back into the oven covered in foil, removing the foil about halfway through cooking. Or if you have a microwave, feel free to use that. 

If you don't want to use sourdough bread you can substitute your stale bread of choice.

Thanksgiving is just under a month away, and we want to make this a memorable year. Its our first year being in Maine for the holiday in four years, and we're hosting dinner. With a handful of friends and family headed our way, its gonna be a day full of cooking, eating, and celebrating. This month I'll be making lots of Thanksgiving-themed recipes to get our table (and yours!) full and ready to impress. 
And while this stuffing won't be getting stuffed into any Turkeys (or Tur-duck-en, or whatever is trendy this year), it will be stuffed into our hungry mouths, so we're gonna keep the name.

We started with a simple side dish, Quinoa Stuffing. Its made without bread and is gluten-free, making it a much lighter dish and more friendly to our wheat-free friends. The red quinoa adds a festive pop of color and the flavors of butternut squash and celeriac round out the rich, fall flavors.
 You may be saying "But GIRL what the hell is celeriac?" about now-ish, and thats okay. Celeriac is really just a fancy sounding word for celery root. Pictured below, it looks sort of like a rutabaga and sort of like a root ball...which it is. It's the bottom half of the celery plant, the part doing all the behind-the-scenes work slurping water out of the ground. And it is my favorite.
Celeriac has the texture of a potato; starchy and rich in flavor, it makes a great thickener in soups, can be made into a mash, and can really replace potatoes in any dish. It adds a ton of celery flavor without the stringiness of using celery stalks or the added sodium of celery salt. It also makes a mean cream of celery soup...but thats another post, for another day. Lets get back to the real star here: all that yummy quinoa stuffing.

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
3/4 cup diced celeriac (celery root)
3/4 cup diced butternut squash
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon ground thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
 1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
Rinse quinoa, pour in a sauce pan with 2 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Avoid stirring and let boil until the quinoa absorbs all the remaining water, about 10-15 minutes. [Tip: For guaranteed perfect quinoa, after all the water is absorbed, turn the heat off and let it sit in the pan with the cover on for at least 10 more minutes. The quinoa will absorb any remaining water left in the pan and stay moist and fluffy!] Set aside in a large mixing bowl.
Melt about a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Chop the garlic, onions, butternut squash, and celeriac, and add it to the oil. Cook on medium, stirring frequently, until veggies are fork tender- about 20 minutes. Once the veggies are softened, add the thyme, sage, salt and pepper and stir coat evenly.
Add the veggies to the quinoa in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Pour in the chopped parsley, hazelnuts, and olive oil and toss until everything is evenly distributed.
Now, let's eat!

Tip: Make the quinoa a day or so ahead of time and refrigerate until you're ready to use it on Thanksgiving day. Its way easier and one less thing to worry about!
Saves well in the fridge for about a week. & makes great lunch leftovers.