Fruits & Veggies Monday--Back in Action! {Stuffed Mushrooms & Cooked Cabbage}

Happy Monday my friends! Besides just starting out a fresh new week, there are all kinds of fun things going on this particular Monday. One of my dear friends is celebrating a birthday, @steemitbloggers is transitioning to the new #powerhousecreatives, and @lenasveganliving is back to host the first #fruitsandveggiesmonday of the year! In case you forgot the rules or are new to the challenge, make sure to check out her contest post for all the details and a beautiful shot of yummy fruits!

Today I'm serving up a pretty simple meal of some stuffed mushrooms and vibrant cooked cabbage. The cabbage was actually a throwback to a post I did for a fruits and veggies entry about a year ago! I hadn't made cabbage like this in a while, so I looked back through my archives for inspiration (original recipe here). So simple, yet so full of flavor and a delicious side dish for a winter meal! The red cabbage and red onion are full of antioxidants and health-promoting fiber and nutrients.

My local farmers market is still closed until this coming Saturday morning, so I had to resort to the grocery store for most of my veggies this week. I still tried to stick with mostly seasonal ingredients that I would be able to find locally this time of year. Since I have been actively blogging for over a year now it is fun to look and see how I inadvertently gravitate towards similar ingredients year to year, even making very similar dishes without realizing it until I look back at photos or posts from the previous year. I suppose that is a good thing as it means I am sticking with seasonal goods to support my local farming community and reduce my environmental impact!

To go along with my cabbage, I also found some hearty portabella mushroom caps that I decided to roast and stuff. I use mushrooms often in my winter soups, but hadn't gotten full caps to use like this in a while. I used to HATE mushrooms as a kid, but luckily I have gotten over that aversion (along with many others).

I don't really have a recipe for these today since I just tossed some ingredients together. I had a few cups of cooked pinkeye beans in the freezer from the farmers market to pair with millet and greens for the stuffing. This past Friday when I visited my niece I stopped at my sister's Kroger (grocery store) and came upon an awesome sales on some items like millet, amaranth and quinoa flour. I haven't worked with amaranth or quinoa flour in my kitchen before, so I'm excited to see how I can put those to good use!

The mushrooms I just sprinkled with some ground mustard and lemon pepper seasoning before roasting for about 15 minutes on their own. Then I mixed together the pinkeye beans, cooked millet, chopped up leafy greens, smoked paprika and a few tablespoons of stone ground mustard for the filling. I stuffed the shrooms and cooked for another 10 minutes to finish them off. We drizzled a little bit of hot sauce on top and then enjoyed the meal!

I only had enough mushrooms for one meal, but we have plenty of the stuffing left to make lunch for today. I think I will cook up potatoes to eat with the cabbage, as well. I've got more meal prep coming up this afternoon for the rest of the week in the form of an acorn squash curry and perhaps some figgy energy bites! Nothing but good stuff going on in the kitchen this week and every week. 😉

So happy to be back with the Monday crew, and I wish you all a healthy week filled with lots of fruits and veggies!!

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