Oh Bella (Portabella Mushrooms)

I have been trying to make my favorite foods more healthy without having to give them up. My latest discovery in this venture is Portabello mushrooms. Now, I like mushrooms, and I prefer portabello mushrooms to plain white mushrooms in general, but when I saw a recipe for Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches where Portabello mushrooms had been substituted for the beef, I thought "What a great idea!" Portabello mushrooms are thicker and stronger flavored than white mushrooms. If you have not tried them, I highly recommend you do. Baby Bellas (also called Cremini) mushrooms are small portabello mushrooms - and they generally cost the same as regular white mushrooms. As a bonus, they happened to be on sale last week.

Bella Cheesesteaks

Portabello or cremini mushrooms
onions
peppers
salt
pepper
whatever other spices you like on your steak
butter
olive oil
cheese
bread


Put a Tbsp of butter and a drizzle of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.

Slice the mushrooms, onions, and peppers. Add the onions and mushrooms to the pan. Add spices. When the onions and mushrooms are half cooked and starting to turn clear add the peppers (peppers have a tendency to get bitter if they are added to early)

If you like your bread toasted, then toast your bread. Put a couple of slices of cheese on your bread (I used swiss because I had it left over from Ruebens the week before). Add the veggie mix.

Biscuits and Bella Gravy

I love Biscuits and Gravy, so I thought - what a great way to reduce the guilt factor - substitute bellas for sausage. (for additional guilt reduction, put it on toast instead of biscuits)

Bella mushrooms
onion
saussage spices (red pepper, sage, garlic, etc. check the ingredients list on your favorite sausage package for ideas)
butter
flour
salt
pepper
skim milk (you can use regular, but I thought skim made a nicer gravy consistency)
biscuit(or toast)

Put 2 Tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Chop the onions and mushrooms (I also did a version with spinach added as well). Add spices and cook until the mixture is cooked through and nicely browned.

Add flour (about 1/4 c but it varies depending on how you like your gravy). Stir until you have coated the vege mixture.

Reduce heat to medium-low and add milk, stirring constantly so you don't get lumps.

So there you go. There are my bella creations!