Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Portobello Burgers

(p.s. only 4 days left to vote in the VegNews Awards... I'm nominated for fave vegblog and fave cookbook author. So, please vote in these last few days if you haven't done so already. Then I'll stop nagging!) :)
These burgers have become our summer Sunday dinner. If you listened to the VF podcast, you'll know that every Sunday I stock up at our local farmers' market, and every week I bring home plump, fresh organic portobello mushrooms.

I've been marinating and grilling the mushroom caps on our bbq. Basically, I create a simple marinade of a couple of splashes of balsamic vinegar, a few glugs of ev olive oil, and one or two large cloves of garlic, grated into the oil/vinegar using a kitchen rasp. Gently and carefully pull the stems away from the caps (bracing the full cap in the palm of your other hand). I then also scrape away the gills of the mushroom. You don't have to do this, it's a personal preference for me. Sometimes the gills are a touch dirty, or if the mushrooms aren't very fresh, they can be a little mushy, so simply scrape them away with a spoon if you like. Place the mushroom caps (I usually have 4 or 5) in the marinade, and move them gently through to coat. Let sit for 1/2 hour or more, and move the mushrooms around again once or twice to distribute the marinade. Much of the marinade will get absorbed into the caps, but if there is some left, use a spoon to help distribute it around the caps. Then grill! About 5-6 minutes on each side until you have lovely grill marks and the mushrooms have become tender and juicy. Be sure to give each side of the mushrooms a lil' dose of freshly ground black pepper and sea slat. If there is still marinade left, baste the mushrooms with it during the grilling. (note: don't add the salt to the marinade - wait until grilling. The salt will draw the juices out of the mushrooms, so wait until they are on the hot grill to season.)

Serve up your burgers as you like, on buns, in pitas, or even in a whole-wheat tortilla, as per this post. Our local store (Choices) has just started stocking whole-wheat burger and hot dog buns (yay!) so I've used those in this photo. Now, these burgers are even more magically delicious if you also grill some sliced red onion with a touch of s&p and ev olive oil. Then, add any other condiments you like - though you may not want to mess with the taste of the mushrooms and onions all on their own!

Here, I've served the burgers with some oven-roasted organic potatoes and a fresh salad - all from the farmers' market. Summer is good, I will miss it.

But, to keep us from getting the fall blues, we will have a Salba giveaway this fall! Nice guessing by Heather and VegNextDoor. For the rest of you that weren't getting my clue from my last post, the hang' tough clue refers to this. I know, that was sneaky. But fun. :)

Will be back in a few days with giveaway details! Until then, get yourself some portobellos and get marinating and grilling!

17 comments:

Animal-Friendly said...

Thanks so much for the tips on grilling portobello mushrooms! I tried grilling some a few weeks ago, but they turned out really mushy and unpleasant. Now I'm sure it's because I added lots of salt to the marinade!

I can't wait to hear more about this giveaway! And now I'll probably be singing New Kids on the Block songs all day....

Janet said...

Mmm...grilled veggies! I love how the onion and tomatoes add such a bright splash of color.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the giveaway too!

VeganCowGirl said...

They look great, but I always find portobellos so tough in burger recipes.

But perhaps the marinade might push them a little further into the not too chewy region???

Thanks for the recipe.

Megan said...

Wow Those Burgers look great! I think that will be my Labor Day burger of choice this weekend :)

Michelle said...

sneaky indeed! i got the nkotb, but i couldn't figure out what that had to do with veganism! i love salba!

Anonymous said...

I wish I would have typed New kids on the block in your search the blog for spot. I tried it after you announced the answer and behold it came up with the Salba post. maybe next time :)
Heather

Lauren said...

Mmm!! Portabella Burgers are amazing!! YUM!

I have never heard of Salba, I am excited about the giveaway though!

Dreena said...

Vegancowgirl, just to let you know that these burgers become very juicy and tender with marinating and bbq'ng. Not chewy, even though mushrooms are chewy to some degree by nature, but they are definitely tender and irresistible! I made them this past Sunday for a party along with a whack of other food, and they disappeared 1st! Even our daughter who previously wouldn't touch mushrooms now *loves* these. So, get some nice fresh portabellos and give 'em a try!

Heather, you were oh-so-close! Now you'll get my sneaky hints. :)

Almost Vegetarian said...

Every time I see grilled portobello mushrooms I think I have just got to try making them. But I never got a really great recipe for them. Until now.

So I'm off to the store ...

Cheers!

urban vegan said...

We make porto-burgers often. More often, though, we;ll chop 'em up and use them as the base for a Philly cheese steak.

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Kathleen said...

Portpbelleoburgers <3

AmandaEsq said...

Since we don't eat meat we don't have a grill anymore! Could you wrap these in foil and bake instead?

Dreena said...

Amanda, I wouldn't wrap them in foil since they will steam during cooking and just be watery. Rather, put them on a baking sheet on parchment paper and bake on very high heat (450) or under the broiler, flipping every few minutes until they start to get some light browning. You could also try an indoor griller if you have one of those (but I'm assuming you don't). Hope that helps... :)