April Foodie PenPals & The Perfect Appetizer: Goat Cheese Pistachio Stuffed Mushrooms

The end of April means two things:

1. I have less than a month left in this glorious city and really need to start organizing my “where I NEED to eat” list

2. Foodie Penpals reveal day! So just in case you forget what this foodie penpals is all about…it was started by Lindsay @the lean green bean and here’s a little summary of this fantastic foodie program:

Every month you receive your penpal pairing via email. You then contact them to find out all their likes/dislikes/allergies and put together a box filled with scrumptious food products that costs no more than $15. Include something written and send your box off and await to receive your own delightful box of goodies. Then you blog about it at the end of the month. If you don’t have a blog…don’t fret. You can still participate in this wonderful foodie program.

I’ve participated for two months now and both times I was quite pleased with the box I found on my doorstep. And this month’s box of goodies, yet again, did not disappoint.

I couldn’t even wait until the picture was taken to rip into that bag of snap pea crisps. Crispy and crunchy with a very interesting flavor, I think they would be perfect for adding texture to a nice green salad in place of the usual croutons. My favorite thing in this box was the peanut butter granola.

The first day I had it mixed into yogurt, the second just eaten straight from the bag. This sweet and peanutty cereal is now a house favorite! Thank you Caroline for the delicious box of goodies! Check out Jennifers blog to see the food gifts I sent to her!

Inspired by foodie penpals, I reached for the bag of pistachios I was gifted last month, combined them with goat cheese, and stuffed them into some button mushrooms, a perfect vessel for this creamy filling. These delicious, cheesy, and rich mushroom bites would make the perfect party appetizer or really the perfect snack anytime. I mean, anything stuffed with goat cheese and pistachios is bound to taste good right?

Goat Cheese and Pistachio Stuffed Mushrooms

6 button mushrooms, stems removed

1/4-1/3 cup of goat cheese, softened

2 tbsp chopped pistachios

zest of half a lemon

1/2-1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

splash of milk

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Arrange mushrooms on a sheet pan.

Mix together remaining ingredients, adding enough milk until it reaches a stuffable consistency (you don’t want to it too thick you can’t stir it but not too thin it wouldn’t stuff and stay in the mushrooms…I probably used about 2 tbsp milk)

Stuff mushrooms and bake for about 15-20 minutes, until top begins to brown and mushrooms are soft and tender.

Surprisingly so delicious, considering how simple the ingredients were and how quickly they came together. I think they would also be nice over a bed of spinach with a drizzle of balsamic and oil as a salad. The perfect spring appetizer!

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March Foodie Pen Pals and Recreating Cafe Habana’s Salad

Can you believe a whole month has gone by?? I was just speaking with a good friend about how we couldn’t believe it was almost April! Time flies! And with this passing of time brings my second monthly foodie pen pal experience! In case you’re new to this blog and are wondering, “what is this whole foodie pen pal business?” Lindsay @theleangreenbean, the brilliant organizer of this program, pairs you with another food loving individual and you get to send and receive a lovely food filled box. The spending limit is $15 dollars and must also include something written. Then, at the end of the month, everyone posts about food gifts they received. Do not fret, if you don’t have a blog  you can still participate. My February experience was so fantastic I was really looking forward to this month…and my pen pal, Carolyn, sent a box filled with delicious goodies.

The box of goodies

I love that she went to such an effort to send me homemade gifts based off local ingredients. Pickles made from cucumbers from Washington, blueberry jam from blueberries she picked HERSELF and homemade granola…love it!

I am a HUGE mustard, sauce, and condiment lover. You should see our fridge…three kinds of mustards, a variety of Trader Joe’s fruit butters (the pumpkin will in fact change your life), and a selection of Asian sauces. So this new to me honey mustard was a huge hit! I recently used it on a cheese sandwich…perfection! I also used the honey mustard in the dressing for a new salad I created. After absolutely falling in love with Cafe Habana’s jicama salad, I decided I needed to have it again, STAT! And not wanting to make a trip to the city and wait in line every time a craving for this fresh and fruity bowl of mixed greens hit, I decided it was high time I made my own version of it. And now, you can too!

Jicama, Mango, and Feta Salad with Honey Mustard and Lime Dressing

Mixed greens

1 mango, peeled and chopped

1 jicama, peeled and chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

handful dried cranberries

feta…as much as you like (and I like a lot!), crumbled

Dressing

2 tbsp honey mustard

juice from 1/2 a lime

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

Combine all salad ingredients in a bow. Mix dressing and toss with salad to coat. Done and done! So simple!

Jicama

If you’ve never have jicama before (as Adam never had) I say run out and buy it this instance. It is basically a cross between an apple and a potato…crunchy and sweet, perfect in salads and slaws. All you have to do is peel it, cut it, eat it. So have a great weekend and try this salad! And a big THANK-YOU to Carolyn for the amazing box of eats! Check out Lisa’s blog to see the box of goodies I shipped off to her. Have a great eating weekend!

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First Foodie Pen Pals and Green Barley Salad Recipe

When I first heard of Foodie Pen Pals, I immediately thought back to elementary school. I used to have a pen pal…actually I had TWO, and was always so excited when I would come home from school and have a letter waiting for me. Fast forward to today, and I almost never have a letter in my mailbox. Instead, it’s an e-mail, a facebook message, or a twitter mention that gets me excited. So, after reading about this monthly event on The Lean Green Bean (the brilliant creator behind this food exchange), I instantly sent in my information. What could be better than meeting TWO new fellow food bloggers, and giving AND receiving a box filled with food!

The basic premise is you receive your pen pal pairing via e-mail and then make contact to find out what would be on their food “wish list.” You then send them a box filled with delectable edibles (that costs no more than $15) and await your own box of goodies. And then…reveal day! Right where we are today.

I was so excited to send my package of food gifts to Kalee@Sorey Fitness and even more excited to come home to a large UPS box with my name on it. Diana@The Veggie Next Door sent me such an amazing box filled with a variety of new and old food favorites. It was also so exciting to find her blog and make a new twitter friend…we actually have a lot in common! We both love to cook and try new restaurants, have both traveled to Thailand, and Diana lives in Chicago…a city that I absolutely fell in love in when I visited last year and a city filled with amazing restaurants.

My Foodie Pen Pals Box

What was so nice about this box was the little notes on each of the food items…it added such a nice and personal touch. The kit kat bars were picked up at a China airport, the very interesting tasting mesquite candy was from her boyfriend on a recent business trip, and the tropical lara bar (which is a new to me flavor) is Diana’s favorite flavor.

Banana bread and tropical lara bar

Strawberry and green tea Kit Kat

Pop chips are a favorite snack food in our household and we actually were recently discussing the need to buy a bag of the sweet potato flavor. How perfect we got our own little taste tester…Diana was right, these are addictive! We will definitely be purchasing a larger bag in the future.

This green barley was the most intriguing item in the box. I love barley and had never even heard of this green grain before…needless to say I immediately began thinking of how I can use this new food find and came up with a very tasty green barley salad.

Green barley

Green Barley, Squash, Sweet Potato Salad

1 cup green barley (you could use regular barley, wheat berries, farro, or brown rice)

1/2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cubed

1 small sweet potato, peeled, cubed

3 carrots, peeled, cubed

1/2 onion, chopped

handful of parsley, chopped

handful of spinach, chopped

1/4 cup pistachios, chopped

1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp honey

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse barley and soak in water for about 30 minutes. Place in a pot with boiling salted water and cook for 45-50 minutes until tender, but make sure it still has a nice chew. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, roast squash, sweet potato, onion at 400 degree in oven with some oil, salt, and pepper until tender. Add to barley with remaining ingredients and toss to combine.

This salad has such a nice mix of salty and sweet flavors and amazing textures. This barley is a lot chewier (in a very good way) than regular barley…more similar to farro or a wheatberry and I would definitely make it again.

Thank you Diana for introducing me to a new favorite grain and for the rest of the food gifts!! (although the sweet potato pop chips might have been a dangerous find!)

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