Grillin? & Chillin? (Portobello Mushroom Style)

I’ve decided that tomorrow’s the day – I’m going to give MJ real food! OK – so just rice cereal mixed with a little breast milk (organic brown rice cereal, of course!) But I’m just so excited for him. FOOD! Glorious food on Independence Day. And what delightful things will I be eating? We went to the farmer’s market today, so I have fresh raspberries and blueberries – they are ridiculously sweet. I also purchased kale, bok choy, a lemon cucumber (tastes like a cucumber but is a summery yellow color inside and out), a sweet green pepper and “dragon tongue” beans (something new to me). I’m also going to make potato salad (my rustic “German-style”recipe from a previous blog post) For the main course I think I might try an alternative to meat on the grill and go with Portobello Mushroom Caps – they grill up juicy and instead of eating them on a bun, I can slice them up and use them as a salad topper. (the average hamburger bun has 150 calories, and the gluten-free varieties have even more. I’m not wasting 250 calories on a bun!)

Ingredients:

4 large Portobello mushroom caps

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon minced garlic

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

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.

Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Brush grate with oil. Place mushrooms on the grill, reserving marinade for basting. Grill for 5 to 8 minutes on each side, or until tender. Brush with marinade frequently.

The same marinade works well for baby bellos, which I like to grill on skewers (with some onions – yummy!) and I just put the mushrooms and the marinade in a plastic ziplock bag and let them sit til I’m ready to skewer and grill. Remember to pre-soak bamboo skewers. I actually use (and re-use) thicker metal skewers for grilling. They were more expensive than the wooden ones, but they’re not disposable, and they’re really sturdy – so they hold more weight. And I never worry about them breaking or burning!