Grilled Mushroom Sliders with Spicy Cilantro Almond Pesto

Isn't your mouth just watering looking at this slider??  I never fail to be amazed by the inspired recipes Dara of Cookin Canuck dreams up, and this is definitely a fantastic one.  This guest post from Cookin Canuck is for Grilled Mushroom Sliders, topped with Zucchini, Tomato, and a Spicy Cilantro Almond Pesto.  I am especially excited by the spicy cilantro pesto (for obvious reasons) but I also can't stop thinking about the grilled mushroom!  Oh yeah, you know what I am talking about - a thick, juicy, seasoned and grilled mushroom is a little bite of tender heaven.  I think these sliders would be the perfect vegetarian option for your Labor Day parties... but I bet meat-eaters wouldn't be able to resist them either.  And since they are miniature, you can feel free to eat more than one (or two).  


I hope you enjoy this guest post, and if you love 'mini' foods as much as we do, be sure to stop by Cookin Canuck and check out her other small dishes like Mini Grilled Pizzas with Shrimp and Red Pepper Pesto, Mini Frittatas with Parmesan and Bacon, and Mini Pepper Biscuits.  Or, just stop by to get a little dose of sunshine from her happy personality.  Thanks Dara! 

_______________________________

     

To start, I am sending a sincere “thank you” to Amanda for asking me to share this post with you.  I can never resist stopping by her blog to see what recipes she cooked up and to gawk at her gorgeous photos.  And, by the way, she is just as sweet and bright in person as she appears on her blog.  If you didn’t catch the informative and downright jaw-dropping post she wrote and photographed for my blog - Orange Cantaloupe Sorbet –  be sure to check it out.  As Amanda is toiling over her computer, hammering out her Ph.D. dissertation (yes, I’m officially in awe), I am happy to give her a little blogging relief.  So, let’s move on to these tasty mushroom sliders, paired with a spicy cilantro pesto.

I don’t know what it is about things in miniature, but they have the effect of turning me into a weepy-eyed, cootchie-cooing fool.  Kittens, puppies, babies – you name it, I’m a sucker for it.  One would hope that these behaviors would be relegated strictly to the “baby animal/people” category but, sadly, they also cross over to food.  Cocktail parties and tapas restaurants are my preferred playgrounds as I prefer small tastes of multiple flavors rather than one large dish.  Sliders, typically about half the size of a regular burger, fit my idea of  “miniature” perfectly.

One of our favorite sliders recipes is Smoky Beef Sliders with Grilled Pineapple and Chipotle Mayonnaise.  When you’re in the mood for beef, this one is bound to satisfy your craving.  However, if you prefer something a little lighter or on the vegetarian side of the scale, turn to grilled mushrooms.  Portobello mushrooms are typically the mushroom of choice for grilling.  However, they are a little too big for sliders, unless you buy the baby bellas, which would work well for this recipe.  While at the market, I stumbled upon some very large crimini mushrooms, which were just the right size to fit inside some whole wheat dinner rolls.  If you are unable to find large crimini mushrooms, fill each slider with two small ones instead.

Simple Oat and Brown Sugar Scones

I've had a lot on my mind lately.  Everyday when I open my eyes first thing in the morning, ideas start racing across my brain, rushing ahead, trying to reach the forefront first.  Sometimes it seems like I can barely remember those days of waking up in a pleasant fog, hearing the birds chirping outside. 


And yet...  Despite the whirling vortex that I sometimes am unable to calm, thoughts of good food and good times eating food always surface just above the turbulence.  Take these scones for instance.  Ever since seeing Isabelle's lovely blossom-shaped Lemon Ginger Scones, I have been dreaming of making my own.  Scones have outcompeted work, working out, and sometimes even sleep.  They have almost won out over the start of cherry season and Game of Thrones... but not quite.  (Please, I have my priorities people.)   I have made different versions of scones at least 4 times now in as many days.  You might think that sounds over the top, but when I decide to do something I do it right.      

Simple ingredients for simple scones.

At first I wanted scones with fruit in them.  As I mentioned, I am overjoyed with the start of cherry season, but I also had some lingering strawberries I needed to bake or eat before they kicked the bucket.  But then I abandoned both those ideas when I realized I would much rather eat a well-flavored non-fruit scone and slather it with fruit jam.  I wanted a simple scone, nothing fancy. 

Scone dough just after kneading together for just a minute.

Scone dough on a well-floured board.

Peanut Butter and Oat Energy Bites

It is Sunday morning.  Hopefully you will wake up well-rested, stretch out your arms, and open your eyes to a sunny day.  Maybe you will have a warm cup of coffee, some eggs with toast, or maybe you will even get really lucky and have some homemade pancakes.  After that you might relax with the Sunday paper, catch up on the news, or watch some cartoons with your kids.  Of course, you will do all that while still in your comfy pajamas.  On Sunday morning, you can rest easy because the next work week is still a distant 24 hours away.  

As the day wears on, you might run some errands, meet a friend for lunch, or do some laundry.  But by Sunday evening, you will have the unfortunate revelation that Monday morning and that-thing-that-shall-not-be-named (ie. work) is right around the corner.  You will start gearing up for the week, thinking about what you need to accomplish, what you will wear for work, and hopefully you will think about what you will eat for lunch during the week.           

Maybe you have a catered meeting on Tuesday, and lunch with a co-worker at that new burger joint on Friday.  The other days you will probably bring your lunch, and I would wager a guess you will eat sandwiches, leftovers from the night before, or healthy portable foods like fruits, yogurt, or hummus.  Some days if you are extremely busy, you might not even have time to eat lunch at all!  Am I describing your week about right?  

I wouldn't call myself a fortune teller, but I can also reasonably predict that by the time 3 or 4 o'clock comes around, you will be looking at your watch - your eyes will bulge with astonishment as you realize there are still several hours to go and lots of work to be done before you can eat dinner, and you are hungry.  Your energy from lunch is gone (if you had time to eat anything at all) and you are seriously contemplating a vending machine run.  It is a situation of serious food desperation, and we have all been there. 

At the root of this problem lies the simple facts that: 

A.) You are hungry. 

B.) You have failed to anticipate you would be hungry. 

C.) As a direct consequence of B., you have no food on hand.  

You could also make the excuse that: 

D.) You anticipated the hunger strike, but had no time to rustle up some grub.

Ok fair enough.  But since this problem occurs on a daily basis for most people (and amnesia is not currently an epidemic), fact B. is clearly ridiculous.  If you are honest with yourself, I am sure you can agree that you know you will be hungry.  So really, the reason we suffer through these late-afternoon snack monster attacks is that we don't take the time to prepare.  

I know we all have busy lives full of very important things to do, but let me tell you how you can feed the snack monster with something healthy and delicious that will give you the energy you need to finish the day strong.  You can make it in 5 minutes over the weekend, and these snacks should last you for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.  Now that sounds like quite the payoff doesn't it?