Looking for a delicious, hearty, vegetarian meal that’s ready to eat less than 30 minutes? Try these Southwest Quinoa Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with creamy goat cheese topped with a fresh, avocado-cilantro cream sauce and pomegranate arils.
Y’all, I know I’ve been a bit quiet this week with posting on all formats because work’s been a bit busy, I’m traveling and on top of all that, I got the stomach flu.
Ugh.
Doesn’t it seem like sickness comes at the most inconvenient time? I came home to New York to surprise my Mom and celebrate her retirement and wouldn’t ya know, the day I land I’m laid up on the couch?
Luckily for me, all I really want when I’m sick is my Mommy (even at 30 years old). So it was nice to be in my childhood home with some soup, my Mom and lots of binge-watching on the TV!
While home with my family, after I started feeling a bit better I also did a bit of baking, including making my Dad my world famous Bakery-Style Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. He loved them because they’re soft, spiced, and have a hint of molasses. You should definitely make them.
My parents also love stuffed mushrooms, and while I didn’t make today’s recipe for Southwest Quinoa Stuff Portobello Mushrooms, I’m pretty sure it’s something they would have enjoyed. Growing up, we had traditional stuffed mushrooms as appetizers during the holidays — the kind you stuffed with instant stuffing and ground pork sausage.
Well, my Southwest Quinoa Stuff Portobello Mushrooms are a step above those and were inspired by the quinoa stuffed mushrooms I saw at HEB.
And y’all, would you believe this? They were selling these ready-to-bake stuffed portobello mushrooms for $10!
Now I love the idea of grab-n-go meals but $10 for two stuffed mushrooms? No way.
Except for the mushrooms themselves, I had everything I needed in my kitchen at home to make this meal and was inspired to whip it up for a quick and easy lunch one weekend afternoon.
I chose to make my stuffed mushrooms vegetarian and gave them a Southwest flair, incorporating quinoa, black beans, Mexican spices, corn, goat cheese, and obviously, avocado. You could also do these mushrooms with other traditional flavors like Asian, BBQ, or Greek if the inspiration sparks you.
The result was a delicious, hearty vegetarian meal in less than 30 minutes. Definitely an upgrade from the Stove Top stuffing & sausage mushrooms I had as a kid!
I topped my Southwest Quinoa Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with pomegranate arils and pumpkin seeds for a little pop of sweet and nutty which pair wonderfully well with Southwest flavors.
Even though I didn’t get an opportunity to make my Southwest Quinoa Stuff Portobello Mushrooms for my parents, I’m pretty sure they would have enjoyed these just as much as their classic recipe and I hope you do too.
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 400*F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- Using a spoon gently scrape the gills out of the mushroom caps.
- Rub each mushroom cap inside and out with a teaspoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper and place on the prepared baking sheet, set aside.
- In a medium-sized skillet, add the remaining 1 teaspoon of olive oil and warm until hot.
- Add the onions and garlic, sautéing until softened.
- Turn the burner to low and stir in the quinoa, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, and salt.
- Cook through until warm then remove from heat.
- Fold in the black beans, corn, chopped cilantro, and goat cheese crumbles.
- Divide the quinoa mixture between the two mushroom caps and bake in the oven for 12 minutes until mushrooms are soft when pricked with a fork.
- While the mushrooms bake, make the avocado cream sauce
- For serving, top with more goat cheese, avocado, additional cilantro, and the avocado-cream sauce.
Ingredients
Method
- In a food processor, add the sour cream, avocado, cilantro, and garlic.
- Pulse 5-6 times until the cilantro is coarsely chopped.
- Add the lime juice, vegetable broth, and salt and pepper.
- Process on high until smooth.
- Taste and add more salt if desired.
- If you’d like a thinner sauce, mix it again with an additional 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable broth until your desired consistency is reached.