Iron Chef West Hollywood, Part 3

As promised, here is the best in the recent "Iron Chef West Hollywood" series! The secret ingredients were: portobello mushroom, kale, chopped cucumber, roasted garlic, red grapes and almonds. Yes, these were a lot of items to work with but that don't really go together. Once I had the secret ingredients I did a quick scan of what I had and decided that kale and tomatoes went together. This brought me to Real Simple's Enhanced Recipe Search where I found the great pasta dish below! We made some changes (of course) so rather than write out the entire recipe, I have just noted our changes.

Whole-Grain Spaghetti with Garlicky Kale and Tomatoes

1. As we were only making two servings, we adjusted portions of ingredients accordingly.

2. Ingredient substitutions: baby heirloom tomatoes for grape tomatoes, roasted garlic for regular garlic, and parmesan for pecorino cheese.

3. Prep changes: Since the garlic was already roasted, we did not saute this at the beginning of the recipe. Instead it was added towards the end to heat through. Also, we did not combine everything with the pasta but rather place the kale/tomato/red onion/garlic mixture on top of the pasta. We then garnished with parmesan cheese, almonds, salt and pepper.

Cucumber & Grape Salad

Please note that measurements are approximate.

1 cup cucumber, chopped

1 cup red grapes

1/3 cup fat free feta

olive oil

2 tablespoons mint, chopped

sea salt

1. Combine cucumber, grapes, feta and mint.

2. Drizzle with olive oil and top with coarse sea salt.

3. Stir and serve.

This salad was so delicious and refreshing! It is a perfect warm weather salad and will keep well in the heat.

Portobello Mushroom with Balsamic Reduction

1 portobello mushroom top

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1. Place portobello mushroom and balsamic in a saute pan and cook over medium heat.

2. Turn the mushroom regularly to make sure it is cooked through.

3. Watch temperature and balsamic closely as the balsamic may reduce faster that you expect. Add additional balsamic if needed.

4. Once mushroom is cooked through, discard the remaining balsamic reduction or use for another purpose. The mushroom will have soaked up an adequate amount.

Iron Chef West Hollywood, Part 1

So first of all, I must apologize for the week plus of radio silence! New job = reduced blogging time. Good for me, bad for you. Not to worry, I plan to make time for all of you as I have so many "recipes" to share!

This is the first in a series I am calling "Iron Chef West Hollywood" because the meals are essentially made from ingredients in my pantry and random additions by my friend Katie. I posted a recipe for Fresh Vegetable Pasta last month which was the precursor to this new series. Please note that these recipes more than ever will be less specific with proportions but I promise to do my best to give you as much accuracy as possible!

Apple & Leek Pasta

1 1/2 cup frozen leeks (or fresh leeks if you desire)

1/2 golden delicious apple, diced

2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

whole wheat pasta (2 servings - we went light on the pasta)

garlic olive oil

olive oil

shaved parmesan cheese

sea salt

1. Cook pasta according to directions.

2. Saute leeks in a little olive oil until slightly browned.

3. Top pasta with leeks and apple.

4. Drizzle with garlic olive oil.

5. Top with parmesan, mint and sea salt to taste.

Serves 2