The Original Dinner Bella March 20, 2011

You may be wondering where I went, and I am here to tell you that Dinner Bella is still around!  Well, while by business may be in a coma, I am still alive….  Here’s the quick and dirty:

I had an interesting spring and summer (2010) busy with catering jobs (weddings, bat mitzvahs, cocktail parties) and then business almost completely dried up with just a few jobs trickling in.  Then by some stroke of luck, I was commissioned by this Scottish family to cook breakfast and dinner for 6 weeks starting in July!  Holy Cow!  Turns out it was too good to be true; I was involved in an international money laundering scam.  After talking with the internal revenue service, FBI and CIA, I was feeling a little bruised and defeated.  I was questioning whether Dinner Bella should stay in business, all the while still continuing to do personal chef jobs…

One of my last personal chefs gigs was cooking an anniversary dinner and they chose Smore Brownies for dessert.  Chatting away with my client, while the the smore brownies were broiling, they set on fire!! I have never set anything on fire in my whole life- especially while preparing a meal for a client!!!  Luckily we were able to laugh it off and recover- but again I felt defeated…is this a sign that I should throw in the towel??  

Finally, I took a good look at my license plate: DNRBELLA.    DNRBELLA??????  Do not resuscitate Bella????  Can someone please tell me what I was thinking when I got these plates???   For Pete’s sake!!

Anyway, I decided to close up shop and go back to recruiting after a short stint at Martial Arts America (love and miss you guys!)  As I always say, “When life hands you lemons, make limoncello!”  That’s just what I’ve done, put the business on hold until I am ready to resume. I am still cooking though and I will always be The Original Dinner Bella!  The business is just…in a coma…

Lately, I have been brimming with ideas and I wanted to tell you about them.  I have been experimenting with Low Glycemic index recipes that are very satisfying and are in fact helping me to lose weight (9-14 lbs, depending on when I weigh myself).  Capt Willy, my new partner in crime, has lost 12 lbs!  Basically, my new way of eating doesn’t let me fall into a food coma…overeating then starving which then results in more overeating.

So in light of my new way of eating and my new fabulous life, I present you with Phoenix Stuffed Portobellos.  No, we are not eating Phoenix- but my new life like the fabled Phoenix, is rising anew to live again.   Mangia!

Phoenix Stuffed Portobello

Ingredients

• 2/3  cup  chopped plum tomato
• 1 lb of 99% fat free ground turkey, browned
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) shredded reduced fat Italian four cheese blend (like Sargento’s)
• 1  teaspoon  olive oil, divided
• 1/4  teaspoon  coarsely ground black pepper
• 4  (5-inch) Portobello mushroom caps
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 2  teaspoons liquid aminos (found in the organic section) or  low-sodium soy sauce
• 2  teaspoons  minced fresh parsley
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Prepare grill ( I use the George Forman).  Brown the turkey using just a little cooking spray.

Combine the tomato, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon oil, pepper and parsley in a small bowl.

Remove brown gills from the undersides of mushroom caps using a spoon, and discard gills. Remove stems; discard. Combine 1/2 teaspoon oil, juice, and liquid amino in a small bowl; brush over both sides of mushroom caps. Place the mushroom caps, stem sides down, on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill for 5 minutes on each side or until soft.

Spoon  tomato mixture into each mushroom cap. Cover and grill 3 minutes or until cheese is melted..

Notes: I had leftover tomato mixture and used it to stuff peppers with- Yum city!

Nina, The Original Dinner Bella

“Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole!”   -Oscar Wilde

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