Portobello Mushrooms, Couscous, & Coconut Creamed Carrots

Confession: I've never cooked a portobello mushroom as a main course before. I have always considered it something that tastes kind of weird & looks funky.  Mostly I consider a mushroom as a cap waiting to be stuffed with cheese & yummy crumbily (yes, that's how I meant to spell it) bread. But given that I'm currently off dairy & its salty BFF meat, I'm willing to give this whole main course mushroom thing a try. I shall do it with my trusty sidekick, Worcestershire. On this grand adventure we go...

1 portobello mushroom

1/2 small onion sliced 

1 tbsp extra olive oil, divided

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, divided

1 tsp browning sauce

Pinch of salt

Sprinkle of basil 

1. Heat a tsp of oil over medium high heat & sauté onion for a minute or two.

2. While that's cooking, slice the mushroom & brush with the browning sauce & 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce. 

3. Add the mushroom to the pan with the remaining two teaspoons of oil, tbsp of Worcestershire sauce, salt, and basil to taste. Cook an additional 3-5 minutes till done. 

For the couscous, I followed the directions on the box (original, I know), using vegetable broth instead of water.

Finally those dreamy creamy carrots (I apologize for the corny rhyme - just couldn't help myself. I was suddenly overtaken by a Dr. Seuss moment.)

2-3 large carrots

1 tsp honey

1/3 cup coconut milk

Pinch of salt

1 tsp cornstarch

1. Slice up the carrots and cook in boiling water. 

2. Once carrots are cooked, drain water and add honey.

3. Next mix in the cornstarch, and then coconut milk.

4. Add salt & heat to boiling, stirring often. 

5. It will thicken very quickly.

Throw it all together & enjoy. 

So, the portobello mushroom had good flavor from the onions & oil, but I think it was the few drops of browning sauce that made it worth being called a main dish. The oil & sauce coated everything in the pan like a thick salty brown glaze. The onions had just the right amount of cooked & crispy-edged-ness. The Worcestershire was easy to taste & the basil was a nice fresh back note. I will continue to experiment with more or less browning sauce, because that is what really made it shine. 

Now the carrots. I'm not going to exaggerate. I'm deeply in love with the carrots. We would run away together but we can't because I ate them. :-) These are super creamy & very rich. You can taste coconut, but the flavor is very faint. This white sauce is similar to if you made a white sauce with heavy cream & butter but with the tiniest hint of coconut. It's just a little bit sweet thanks to the honey & natural sugar in cooked carrots. This has a lot of fat in it, but since my meal didn't include a greasy burger or massive ribeye, I had the fat grams to spare.  I didn't finish all my carrots (they are incredibly rich - the recipe should probably serve two), so altogether my meal was 373 calories. 

And worth every single one.