Foodie fridays: portobello burgers, finished with roasted garlic
When the cat’s away the mice will play!
It has been exactly 5 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 21 seconds since we have seen our husband. But, who’s counting?
In all honesty, we are not quite sure what to do with myself.
We could take up both sides of the bed while we sleep. That’s always an option. Organize his underwear drawer. Eh, probably not. That’s creepy. Have impromptu dance parties in our living room like a twelve year old? Good chance.
We know!
Duh, make a meat free dinner because we're wild like that.
Alright, we’re going to need some tunes for this one. Cue, Lady Gaga. Ahhh…. yeahhh, that’s it. Shimmy shoulders.
“Just dance, gonna be okay, d-d-dance, dance, dance, just, j-just dance.”
When deciding what kind of meat free dinner we wanted to tackle, our first thought was a burger. The challenge of creating a meatless burger that is juicy and savory is quite the task if you ask us. But, we think we may have found the answer.
Oh, hello portobello mushroom’s.
Did you know that the portobello…
– contains more potassium then a banana.
– is mostly made of water.
We think the brilliant thing about portobellos is that they’re a blank canvas much like ground beef. You can add any ingredient your heart desires to create your own unique flavor. When we found this recipe, we loved the fact that the portobello was marinated in balsamic vinegar and soy sauce. De-lish. Both of these ingredients give the bello’s an earthy flavor and a richness similar to that of ground beef.
Dare we say that we could go without meat permanently? Gasp. Probably not, but this is a good start.
Portobello Burgers with Roasted Garlic (adapted from How Sweet It Is)
Prep Time: 2.5 hours (includes marinating)
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Makes 4 burgers
Ingredients:
for the mushroom burgers:
4 whole wheat buns
4 portobello mushroom caps
2 heads of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 slices of pepper jack
1 small red onion
1 medium tomato, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
arugula for garnish
for mushroom marinade:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cooking sherry
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
Directions:
Two hours before serving, combine the marinade ingredients in a shallow dish and add mushrooms. Lay them on their top side in the marinade. Marinate for two hours.
One hour before serving, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice off top of the heads of garlic and drizzle a bit of olive on top. Wrap in foil and roast for 45 minutes. Cool completely.
Heat skillet to medium-high heat. Add the marinated mushrooms to the skillet, top side up. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip and cook for 4 more. Turn back, add a slice of pepper jack on top and turn off heat.
Toast the buns. Using your fingers, squeeze roasted garlic out of the head into a bowl. Mash with a spoon. Spread on both sides of the buns. Top buns with a portobello cap, red onion slices, tomato, avocado and arugula.
