Grilling Season!

Portobello Burgers, Fast!

Portobello Mushrooms, just the caps washed

Balsamic vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Basil

In a shallow non-reactive dish (like a glass casserole dish), place your cleaned Portobello caps in a single layer smooth side up trying not to let them over lap.  Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the caps and then sprinkle the spices onto the caps with a light hand.  Gently rub each cap in a circular motion to mix the ingredients and better coat each cap.  Flip the caps over and drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar making sure some oil and vinegar gets into the folds and some just goes into the dish.  Sprinkle spices with a light hand all over and let sit for 10 or so minutes.  To broil in oven: place caps smooth side down in the broiler for 4 minutes.  Flip each cap, baste the smooth side using what is left over from your non-reactive dish, and broil another 4 minutes or until they look done and tender.  To grill: baste the grill with olive oil and place smooth side up.  Grill on medium heat for about five minutes each side, basting the smooth side often with what is left over in your non-reactive dish and checking for tenderness.

Background:

Spring straight through Fall is our grilling season!  When Vidal is able to “man the grill” I get an extra nice treat, if not, I take the meal I’ve planned for the grill and use my broiler instead.  The Grill is not my domain, and that is OK by me!  Anyways, for me grill season is yummy, somehow nostalgic, and filled with comfort food flavors.  It is also pretty heavy on the meats… 

My challenge this year is to find ways to enjoy grilling season while maintaining our efforts to reduce the amount of meat our family ingests.  I’ve found, that I feel better when I don’t eat meat, especially red meats, and since we’ve just about eliminated red meat from my family’s diet, I see a difference in how my husband acts too (it’s only when we eat out and he chooses a red meat or eats something greasy that he seems complain about his tummy hurting or seems to act sluggish or grumpy).  Also, truly sustainable meats are rather pricey!  In the past few years, I’ve replaced red meats with poultry or Bison in my recipes.  In my Indian inspired dishes, tofu has been pretty well received and accepted.

Mushrooms, however, I know will never be accepted by the husband who only tolerates ones big enough to pick out of his dish!  So, for now, these yummy Portobello mushrooms are for me to enjoy, but I hope that Joaquin and MariaBella will soon follow!

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