Although I don’t eat red meat, the one thing I miss every once in a while is a big hamburger. Usually I’ll just have a turkey burger instead– but if I’m feeling really healthy and virtuous, I’ll grill a portabella burger. Portabella caps are a great substitute because they’re meaty, absorb any marinade, and easy to cook. The downside is that they are MESSY. Soggy buns are never a good thing.
We bought a few portabella caps at Sam’s this weekend and were planning on grilling them, but then I ran across this recipe on cookinglight.com for Open-Faced Mushroom, Tomato and Goat Cheese Sandwiches.
I altered the recipe a little:
Sauteed Portabella Burgers (Serves 3-4)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 portabella caps, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar (I LOVE vinegar. This may be too strong for some people)
- 1 Tbs capers
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 tube goat cheese (the soft kind- can’t remember how many ounces, but the pkg said 4 servings)
- 1 tomato, sliced (optional)
- Whole wheat hamburger buns
Heat olive oil in large skillet over med to med-hi. Add onions and peppers and sauté for 5 minutes (until soft). Add sliced portabellas. Cook another 5 minutes or so until mushrooms are soft. Remove from heat and add vinegar, capers and salt/pepper to taste.
Toast buns in toaster or under broiler. Spread each bun with about an oz of goat cheese. Top with tomatoes and portabella mixture (use a slotted spoon and make sure the mushroom “juice” drains out before topping). EAT.
Here’s a shot of the sandwich:
Roasted red peppers would be really good in this too.
We had kale chips and Alexia potato wedges on the side. So far I’ve tried a couple of the Alexia breads, the potato wedges and 2 of the fries (crinkle and the regular sea salt variety) and I’m a HUGE fan. They’re definitely the best frozen fries out there AND they’re not bad for you- low fat, high(ish) fiber, fairly low cal. With the sea salt fries, you get a fairly big pile per serving too.
This go-round we topped the kale chips with Old Bay, olive oil and liquid aminos. The Old Bay was a great addition, IMO. Oh, and for the record, I burned my finger trying to retrieve an AWOL kale chip from the bottom of the oven. I’ll spare you the photo this time.
Here’s the whole plate:
And yes, I did eat that entire gallon of ketchup on my 8 little potato wedges 
