Roasted Portobello Mushroom burgers

Serves 4

These were so unbelievably good, I swear you didn’t miss the meat for a second. Hardened meat-eaters were going into raptures. I think the marinade is the key – I found this one on the Mayo clinic website, and it added a whole new level of flavor.

We served the burgers with roasted red peppers, basil pesto (see earlier recipes), and basil mayonnaise. I urge you to try them as an alternative. Even the kids liked them and I think that was mostly the novelty of the ‘woooah! Ginormous mushrooms!’ factor.

Ingredients
4 large portobello mushroom caps
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 whole-wheat buns, toasted
Roasted peppers (see previous recipes)
Basil mayonnaise (see previous recipes)
Basil pesto optional (see previous recipes)

Clean mushrooms with a damp cloth and remove their stems. Place in a glass dish, stem (gill) side up.

To prepare the marinade, in a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, water, sugar, garlic, cayenne pepper and olive oil. Drizzle the marinade over the mushrooms. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, turning mushrooms once.

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or heat a gas grill or broiler. Away from the heat source, lightly coat the grill rack or broiler pan with cooking spray. Position the cooking rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat source.

Grill or broil the mushrooms on medium heat, turning often, until tender, about 5 minutes on each side. Baste with marinade to keep from drying out. Using tongs, transfer the mushrooms to a plate. Build burger with basil pesto on bottom bun, mushroom, red peppers and basil mayonnaise.