Winter Table: Baked Portobello Caps With Walnuts And Blue Cheese Over Wilted Arugula

I came up with this dish the other night because the only veggies I had in the fridge were portobello mushroom caps and a bunch of about-to-go-bad arugula. My boyfriend’s response? ‘Wow, this is like something you’d see on a cooking show!’ Yeah, it turned out that good. But even though baked portobello caps stuffed with walnuts and blue cheese and served over wilted arugula sounds (and looks) fancy, this delicious dish requires practically no effort to make—my kind of cooking! Plus, the combination of mushrooms, greens, walnuts, olive oil and blue cheese gives you a good mix of vitamins, protein and healthy fats.

Baked Portobello Caps with Walnuts and Blue Cheese Over Wilted Arugula

Ingredients:
(serves 2)

• 2 large portobello mushroom caps
• 2-4 tablespoons blue cheese crumbles
• 2-4 tablespoons raw chopped walnuts
• 3 cups arugula
• olive oil
• about 1/4 cup lemon juice
• dried red chili peppers (optional)

Preparation: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place portobello caps open-side-up on lightly greased baking sheet. Fill each cap with 1-2 tbsp blue cheese, 1-2 tbsp walnuts (it kind of depends on how big your mushroom caps are). Drizzle lightly with olive oil.

3. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until cheese is gooey and walnuts are slightly browned.

4. On stove, saute 3-4 dried chili peppers in 1 tbsp olive oil for a few minutes, then add about 1/4 cup lemon juice. Add half of arugula, and stir. Add remaining arugula, and more lemon juice if necessary. Stir everything together and simmer until greens are lightly wilted.

5. Serve mushroom caps over bed of wilted arugula.