Cheap Food I Love: Portobello Mushrooms

Portobello mushrooms can do no wrong in my eyes. I love the tough, meaty texture of them, which makes them perfect for grilling. During a recent camping trip, a fellow veg and I grilled them and ate them on burger buns topped with cheese. They're also a perfect addition to vegetarian chili.

Recipe: Marinated Portobello Mushroom Caps

This is a great way to cook portobello mushrooms. It's easy, simple, requires very little energy, and uses ingredients that most people have in their kitchen regularly. As you can see in the picture, my preferred way of eating these is over a bed of brown rice. However, I'm sure they would be very tasty on hamburger buns, too. Really, you can't go wrong with this one.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white wine
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 portobello mushroom caps

Directions:
1. preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. in a baking dish, combine wine, olive oul, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic. place mushroom caps in marinade gill-side up and marinate for 15 minutes.
3. cover baking dish with foil and place in oven. bake for 25 minutes.
4. turn mushrooms, recover with foil and bake for an additional 8 minutes.

Recipe: Grilled Portobella Mushroom Burger

I decided to make this recipe for two reasons: 1) I wanted to put a bottle of merlot that I opened two weeks ago to good use (I figure it's been open too long to be any good to drink now), and 2) I wanted to use the new griddle cover I bought at Target for my stovetop. The result: yummy! I got impatient and only marinated one mushroom for an hour and a half instead of 2 hours, but I allowed the other mushroom to marinate overnight. I'll report if there's any difference tonight.

Ingredients:
6 portobella mushroom caps, stems removed and gills scraped out
2 cups red wine
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 black peppercorns
2 sprigs fresh thyme
6 whole wheat hamburger buns (I recommend toasting them)
mayonnaise, onion, tomato, and arugula for garnishing (all optional)

Directions:
1. Poke holes all over mushrooms, making sure not to break them. Place in large glass baking dish.

2. Combine wine, garlic, peppercorns, and thyme in small saucepan, and season with salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 5 minutes. Pour wine mixture over mushroom caps, and stir to coat. Cover, and marinate 2 hours.

3. Preheat grill or broiler. Remove mushrooms from marinade, and discard liquid. Grill mushrooms 5 minutes on each side, or until browned and juicy. Serve on buns with burger fixings.

serves 6

I garnished mine with some mixed baby greens and fat free mayonnaise last night. Tonight, I may add in a pepperoncini pepper to add a little kick to it, because it was very sweet.

EDIT: while marinating the mushroom cap overnight did not effect the flavor overall, I definitely recommend adding a pepperoncini pepper as garnish. It gave it the something that it was missing last night.

Recipe: Portobello Mushroom Burgers

This recipe may seem a little complicated when you first look at it, but it is actually pretty simple. The original recipe called for the mushrooms to be grilled, but given the fact that I don't have a grill, I used the broiler setting on my oven instead. serve on buns or whole wheat bread.

ingredients:
4 portobello mushroom caps
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices provolone cheese

directions:
1. Place the mushroom caps, smooth side up, in a shallow dish. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, basil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour over the mushrooms. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes or so, turning twice.
2. Preheat oven to broil.
3. Grease a baking sheet. Place mushrooms on the sheet, reserving marinade for basting. Broil for 5 to 8 minutes on each side, or until tender. Brush with marinade frequently. Top with cheese during the last 2 minutes of broiling.

Recipe: Linguine with Portobello Mushrooms

Let's clear this up now: I love portobello mushrooms. They're versatile and work with a variety of recipes. This is one of the first recipes I ever tried with portobello mushroom caps.

Linguine with Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients:
4 portobello mushroom caps
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 pound linguine
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven broiler.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine, and cook for 9 to 13 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Brush the mushrooms with 1/2 the olive oil, and arrange on a medium baking sheet. Broil in the prepared oven 6 to 8 minutes, turning frequently, until browned and tender.
4. Cut the mushrooms into 1/4 inch slices, and place in a medium bowl. Mix with the remaining olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, basil, rosemary, garlic, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
5. In a large bowl, toss together cooked linguine and the mushroom mixture.

serves 8