portobellos

What is full-flavored, full of savory juice, and as good on the grill in summer as it is in a risotto in winter? Why, it's the portobello mushroom, of course. It doesn't hurt that portobellos are very beautiful, with thick caps, velvety brown gills, and stout, edible stems. These mushrooms can be a hearty main course or delicate tea-time snack. Our collection of portobello mushroom recipes will show you how to make the most of this favorite fungi.

Because portobellos are easy to cultivate, they are commonly available and reasonably priced. Mushrooms in general are exceptionally nutritious, and portobellos' meaty texture and flavor make them unusually versatile in the kitchen. Their scientific name is Agaricus bisporus. And here's the interesting thing: Portobellos are the same as cremini and button mushrooms. If those cute white and tan nubbins were allowed to grow up, they would ultimately become portobellos. Their flavor profile is similar, but where the portobello wins is in the additional depth of flavor that its large gills add to sauces, pan juices, or melting mushroom burgers. If you allow the mushrooms to caramelize, they pretty much define the concept of umami.

One of the things we love about portobellos is that they are incredibly effective sponges. Marinating portobellos before cooking them is an endlessly creative trick to add easy flavor to the already-satisfying mushroom. And this substantial mushroom is not only a mouthwatering vegan steak, but the basis for opulent risottos, rustic stews, quickly delicious pizzas, and the lightest of summer sandwiches.

The mushrooms don’t end up watery because the oven temp is high (425 degrees) and the surface area of the sheet pan means they have space to really simmer away and cook until tender. Bonus: If you make more tomato sauce than you need — and I think you should always make more tomato sauce than you need — then you can get a couple more snacks or meals out of it.

For example:

All I want right now are cozy mushroom dishes, and the next thing on my list is Kay Chun’s mushrooms and dumplings, covered with dollops of buttery biscuitlike dough that get crisp on top, but stay wonderfully soggy and stew-soaked at the bottom.

The stew itself is built on leeks softened in butter — one of my top winter kitchen smells! — and plenty of mushrooms (both fresh and dried) and vegetables that are simmered in broth. It’s straightforward, though you could complicate it just a bit if you want to clean out the fridge or just throw in even more vegetables: a bunch of chopped turnip greens, ribbed Swiss chard (save the stems), collards, or maybe even a can of beans or chickpeas.

If you’re looking for something equally splendid, but vegan, Bryant Terry and Rahanna Bisseret Martinez have a beautiful recipe for grits with mushrooms and chard (including the stems!) that uses oat milk instead of dairy to get a nice, creamy texture. They call for maitakes, or hen of the woods, which are absolutely delicious if you can find them.

2006 novel by Paulo Coelho

The Witch of Portobello (Portuguese: A Bruxa de Portobello) is a fiction work by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho published in 2006, about a woman born in Transylvania to a Romani mother in a gypsy tribe without wedlock. The central character is abandoned by her birth mother because the father was a foreigner (gadje) and later adopted by a wealthy Lebanese couple.

In this book, Coelho works with the return to the goddess religion, the interpretation of love, and the feminine part of the Divine within the theme of searching for one’s true self and opening to the energies of the world.^[1] The question central to the story is "How do we find the courage to be true to ourselves - even if we are unsure of who we are?"

The work also expounds a selection of philosophies, which bear a certain degree of similarity to Coelho's teachings from previous novels and carry the characteristic imprint of his own ideas, as well as a citation regarding the ephemeral nature of desires, which appears in most of Coelho's novels.

The writer elucidates the opinion that the Church has deviated by its stringent rules to the point where it no longer serves Jesus Christ, or as put in his words in one of the interviews: "It's a very long time since they've allowed me in there [the Church]".

As the book begins, Athena is dead. How she ended up that way creates the intrigue sustaining the book.^[2] The child, Sherine Khalil renames herself Athena after her uncle was discussing with her mother on how her real name will betray her origins and something like Athena gave nothing away. As a child, she shows a strong religious vocation and reports seeing angels and saints, which both impresses and worries her parents.

She goes into a London University to pursue Engineering at the age of 19, but it's not what her heart wanted. One day she just decides that she wanted to drop out of college, get married and have a baby. Here, the author mentions that this might be due to the fact that she was abandoned herself and wants to give all that love she could to her child which she didn't receive from her birth mother. Two years later, her marriage falls apart because they are facing too many problems due to their young age and lack of money or mostly because he felt that she loved only the child and used him to get what she wanted. A very interesting quote she uses is "From Ancient Greece on, the people who returned from battle were either dead on their shields or stronger, despite or because of their scars. It's better that way: I've lived on a battlefield since I was born, but I'm still alive and I don't need anyone to protect me." She grows into a woman in search of answers to many questions that arise within a person. She had a life which many felt was content because she had a child of her own, money, and friends; everything but her mind was at peace, so she searches for the answer to the classical question of "Who am I?" through many experiences. In her quest, she opens her heart to intoxicating powers of mother and becomes a controversial spiritual leader in London.

Tomorrow, July 21, the fast-casual chain will be giving away sampler plates of its new sriracha shrimp (720 calories, 2,360 milligrams of sodium) and churro s'more (640 calories, 72 grams of sugar) appetizers. But Applebee's isn't just handing out meals to be nice; they're counting on you ordering a meal on top of your free tasting-size apps. If you're planning to indulge in one of the not-so-healthy new apps, it's all the more important that you order a healthy main dish—especially if you're trying to lose weight.

To help you stay on track tomorrow—and any other time you find yourself dining at the chain—we've tracked down the best dishes for your waistline and health, and they're not all from the "Have It All" menu like you might expect. Though many of our picks below are a bit higher in salt than we'd ideally recommend, they're still the best options on the menu. If you're trying to cut back on sodium, be sure to treat Applebee's as a once-and-a-while treat or follow our customization suggestions for each dish.

740 calories, 46 g fat, 17 g saturated fat, 1,010 mg sodium, 53 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 5 g sugar, 31 g protein

The fiber and protein in this meal are sure to keep you satisfied for hours. Don't be shocked to see us recommending a baked potato. Though the spud has a bad rap, it serves up a good amount of potassium and vitamin C, a nutrient that can fight off stress and aid weight loss.

Customize It: To keep calories and fat to a minimum, steer clear of toppings like sour cream and bacon bits, and enjoy your baked spud topped with some heart-healthy olive oil (Applebee's has it on hand—just ask for it) and pepper. Our calculations include the Caesar dressing, but asking for that on the side will shave off some additional fat and calories.

350, 10 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 1,540 mg sodium, 41 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 7 g sugar, 28 g protein

Flavor-wise it's hard to go wrong with a pepper-crusted sirloin. Applebee's serves the low-fat, iron-rich cut of meat on a bed of whole grains along with some sautéed spinach, roasted portobellos and grape tomatoes (a fruit that's filled with lycopene, an antioxidant that decreases the risk of coronary artery disease and various types of cancers), and tops it all off with a light broth.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Customize it: To nix some of the salt, tell your server you'd like the broth served on the side and ask that they don't sprinkle any salt on your meat.

500 calories 16 g fat, 4 g sat fat, 1,610 mg sodium, 38g carbs, 5 g fiber, 12 g sugar, 50 g protein

To create this low-calorie dish, chefs cover portobello mushrooms, onions and protein-filled chicken breasts with a red wine sauce and some Parmesan cheese. It's served alongside sautéed zucchini, roasted peppers (a veggie that's rich in the metabolism-boosting compound dihydrocapsiate) and red potatoes (one of the most satiating plants in the produce aisle), which ensures the dish provides an alphabet of vitamins.

Customize it: Ask your server to hold the cheese and get the sauce on the side. This will axe some of the bloat-causing sodium.

540 calories, 32 g fat, 8 sat fat, 1,810 mg sodium, 24 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 4 g sugar, 42 g protein

Salmon is not only rich in omega-3s, healthy fats that fights off metabolism-slowing inflammation, but also a great source of protein, a nutrient that increases post-meal calorie burn by as much as 35 percent. We love that this cedar-infused dish comes with a side of veggies and steamed potatoes, but we aren't fans of its high sodium count.

Customize it: Since salt tends to lurk in sauces and spreads, ask if the chef can go light on the sauce or give it to you on the side. If they give it to you on the side, make sure to cut yourself off after a light drizzle.

470 calories, 30 g fat, 10.5 g saturated fat, 1,450 mg sodium, 39 g carbs, 5 g fiber, 23 g sugar, 12 g protein

This soup and salad duo can be ordered at most Applebee's locations Monday through Friday until 3 p.m. Though there are tons of dressings and broths to pick from, our suggested combination keeps sodium and calories to a minimum and serves up a solid hit of satiating protein.

Customize It: To cut fat and calories further, ask for the dressing on the side and only drizzle on a tablespoon or two.

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Photo Credit: Applebee's & dcwcreations / Shutterstock.com

Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis‘ decadent and flavorful Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala Sauce has nearly 1000 five-star reviews on the culinary channel’s website.

There’s good reason for that. The Italian-American chef’s comforting meal goes big on flavor and creamy texture and gets it all done in one pan.

The culinary star’s dish calls for chicken, olive oil, butter, onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Its sauce needs just Marsala wine, mascarpone cheese, and Dijon mustard. Fettuccine pasta with fresh parsley rounds the dish out. This is a simple recipe that doesn’t require a lot of ingredients not already on hand.

The dish is “sharp and smooth from the mixture of mascarpone and Dijon mustard,” De Laurentiis says in the recipe’s Food Network video. It’s also “meaty from the chicken and the mushrooms. It’s fantastic.”

Get the full recipe, video, and reviews on Food Network’s site.

The boneless chicken breast is cut into chunks, seasoned “on both sides,” as De Laurentiis notes, and sauteed over high heat for about four minutes per side.

The chef chops the onions and garlic and slices the cremini mushrooms (“Creminis are just baby portobellos”), as well as the fresh parsley. Removing the chicken from the pan, De Laurentiis cooks the onions in butter (“because we want the onions to slowly start to wilt; you don’t really want to caramelize them”) followed by the garlic.

The mushrooms are added (“To me, there’s nothing like the taste of butter with the mushrooms”) and the mixture continues cooking while the mustard and mascarpone sauce is prepared.

A cup of mascarpone cheese is mixed with a couple of tablespoons of Dijon mustard (“It sort of has a clean, sharp flavor”), and that’s all there is to this rich, easy sauce.

Marsala wine is added to the onion mixture (“When I cook, I like to use dry Marsala because it adds a little bit of sweetness and it doesn’t overpower the dish”), as well as the mustard and cheese sauce, which the Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef notes will start to melt as soon as it’s blended into the pan. The chicken is also returned to the pan, where it will cook thoroughly, along with chopped fresh parsley.

Once it finishes cooking, the chicken and its mushroom sauce are poured over the pasta.

Reviewers of the chef’s chicken and pasta dish praised its versatility and surprising simplicity.

“Absolutely delicious!! It was easier than I thought it would be to make. It is rich and very flavorful. My family loved it. I’m adding this one to my rotation,” wrote one fan on Food Network’s site.

Another reviewer added, “This was a delicious dish. The pep of the Dijon mustard and subtle tang of the wine contrasted beautifully with the smoother mascarpone and mushrooms. My family loved it.”

RELATED: Valerie Bertinelli on Working With Giada De Laurentiis: ‘Her Talent and Knowledge Intimidates Me’