I’ve had my share of assed out portobello sandwiches. Over-seasoned, soaked through with too much vinegar and soy sauce, a few jaundiced pieces of lettuce, black gunk mucking up the bread, and oh! let us charge you 12 bucks for the privilege. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Portobellos should be juicy and succulent. What we want to do is coax that luscious flavor out, not hide it with condiments.
BBQ season is here so it’s a great time to learn to grill a portobello just perfectly. You bite through the focaccia and have that juice spill out all over your face; a little char, slightly salty, complex and earthy.
And this burger works for the “plants have feelings” set, too. Even if you hate animals and hate vegans, it’s time to give up the burgers if you want to leave a little bit of earth to your children (OK, maybe you hate children, too.) There’s just too much evidence mounting against your free-will arguments. The truth is, your burger is ruining everyone else’s day. And with something as yummy as a portobello, well, there really is no excuse! Plus, look at the nutritional differences (nutritional info from my olive oil bottle and the internet.)
Hamburger plus a teaspoon of olive oil
Calories: 250
Fat: 18.5 grams (most of it the bad kind!)
Fiber: 0
Protein: 20
Portobello plus a teaspoon olive oil (the other ingredients are negligible, but adjust as you like)
Calories: 66
Fat: 4.5 (most of it the good kind!)
Fiber: 1.5
Protein: 2.5
So the only place where the burger is winning here is the protein content which you can easily compensate for with a side of quinoa salad. Not to mention that you don’t need 20 grams of protein at every meal. Do your own research, work it out. Don’t be part of the problem, be a part of the delicious, delicious solution.
Grilled Portobello Sandwiches
Makes 4
Grilling really brings out the juicy best in these portobellos, so I use the bare minimum of ingredients to let them really flaunt their flavor. A little (cheap!) chardonnay for depth of flavor, tamari for a bit of saltiness, baslamic for a touch of zest, and garlic for, well, it’s garlic! Choose firm, light colored mushrooms with fresh, healthy looking gills that spring back when you gently rub your finger across them. Don’t remove the gills, they are loaded with flavor and texture, not to mention they soak up garlic and marinade beautifully. Gently wash your caps before marinading and you are A-ok. Skip that anemic hamburger bun and go for a bready focaccia that can stand up to the portobello juices that are bound to make you lick your fingers.
Tip: Save your portobello stems for gravy or broth.
4 portobello mushrooms, stems removed
For the marinade:
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
For the sandwich:
4 nice sized pieces foccacia bread
A few handfuls baby arugula
Slices of sweet onion (like walla walla or vidalia)
Slices of tomato
A little vegan mayo
Place the portobellos gills up in a rimmed baking sheet.
Mix all the marinade ingredients together and spoon over the portobellos. Let marinate for at least half an hour, spooning marinade back onto the mushrooms every ten minutes or so.
Grease up your grill with olive oil and preheat over medium/high. It’s important to keep some oil nearby for brushing the grill through out the cooking process. You can use a grill brush for it, or a paper towel wadded up and grasped in your tongs. You can also use a spray bottle of oil.
Place the mushrooms gill side up on the grill. Close lid and let mushrooms cook for about 5 minutes, lifting the lid to baste shrooms with marinade every few minutes. Use tongs to turn the mushrooms 90 degrees to make cross hatched grill marks; cook for about 3 more minutes. Flip mushrooms over and cook for about 3 more minutes. Your cooking time may vary depending on the size of your portobellos and the temperature of your grill. You know the mushrooms are done when you press on the center with tongs (where the stem used to be) and it’s very soft and juicy.
Remove from heat and let rest for about 5 minutes. This lets the flavors develop a bit and the juices taste even yummier when they are just a little bit cooled down. You can use this time to slice your bread and prep the veggies.
Assemble sandwiches and sink your teeth in.
kudos for this post. i’m glad to see people getting the word out about the devastating effects of raising cattle for consumption. this makes me think of a great book, The Mad Cowboy by Howard Lyman.
those burgers look delish too!
Here, here! I’m vegetarian and try to avoid most animal products for the environment–whether or not you care about killing an animal or two, try the whole planet!
Those look amazing!!
Thanks for this post – it’s so useful!
I’m ashamed to say I avoid portobellos sometimes because I suck at cooking them. No more!
Great post! I’d love to see more environmentalists, slow fooders, eat local folks, etc. include veganism among their responsible food choices. And your description of cooking and eating the mushrooms is making want to run out and buy a grill.
Oooh. These look so tasty.
I love how mushrooms get so juicy when they are grilled! Your sandwich looks so good! I am definatly make these this summer! What can I use instead of the white wine, would vegetable broth work?
Thanks for the instruction! I like portobellas as burger stand ins but have definitely been guilty of overdoing the vinegar. I can’t wait to fire up the old Weber pretty soon. It’ll be nice to induce neighborhood flavor wafts with those good old fashioned mushrooms and give the steak grillers a run for their money.
…Now I wish I had a grill. Stupid school. 🙁 Going to try this when I get back home because I love grilled portobella.
Those portobellas are making my mouth water! I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Get in my belly!
yay mushrooms!!!!
also, in a comment completely unrelated to this post, I BEG you to put out a Jewish cookbook including kosher for passover recipes like your flax matzah balls! (and other sections specially for particular holidays like purim – hmmmmmmm hamantachen! and Chanukkah) i try to avoid soy where possible in general day to day life and would LOVE to know your recipe for tofu-free matzah balls as you hinted about in an earlier PPK post.
But seriously I haven’t come across one vegan jewish cookbook 🙁
..off to pre-order your cookie book, and lose 20lbs so that i can gain it all back this winter 🙂
Hey Sarah, I would love to write a Jewish vegan cookbook, but considering that most of Americans are squeamish over Jewish food and so many Jews are squeamish over vegan food and so many vegans are squeamish over anything that isn’t a french fry…I think the demographic would be me, you and like 10 other people. I will keep making recipes and putting them online, though! And in my cookbooks, of course.
I would absolutely love a Jewish vegan cookbook. So that’s at least thirteen people total. 🙂 Maybe in a few years. In the meantime, this recipe look marvellous!
those look perfect!! i love the bread, too, with the little crystals of salt shining in the sun!! i want to have a bbq with you guys!
This recipe looks so easy and sooo delicious. I can’t wait to try it. Thank you for posting it!
Excellent points… even if you do hate children…! I have found a new love for mushrooms since I became vegan. That burger beats out any dry, unseasoned, unappetizing mushroom & bread I’ve ever ordered in a conventional restaurant. Shame on them for not knowing (or not caring) what tastes good, even if there isn’t any meat & cheese. Not an excuse for a good chef/cook!! Anyway, enough of my venting- I just made a morel mushroom burger, if you’d like to check it out sometime. Love your posts!
bring on the portobellos. i haven’t fired up my grill yet this year but i love baking them!!
These look fantastic. With the amazing weather we’ve been having in portland recently, I’m sure I’ll make them soon. My portobello burgers always come out dripping and soggy– I can’t wait to try yours! That almost sounds dirty
yesterday i made baked portobellos (with just salt and olive oil…mmm…). they were sliced up, so there were a couple little pieces that got burnt in the oven. the burnt pieces tasted exactly how i remember hamburger tasting. it was really weird. anyone have a similar experience?
i tried this recipe tonight and they turned out amazingly good!!! i posted a blog about it, including pictures, which you can see here: http://thejoyfulvegan.blogspot.com/2009/04/summer-in-april.html
thanks for sharing the recipe! i’ll definitely be making it again.
I feel like I was just taken to chu’ch! Those portobellos look divine.
I’d definitely recommend adding some dried thyme to the marinade ~ it works great with the portobellos.
>Grease up your grill with olive oil and preheat over medium/high. It’s important to keep some oil nearby for brushing the grill through out the cooking process. You can use a grill brush for it, or a paper towel wadded up and grasped in your tongs. You can also use a spray bottle of oil.
Just a quick note for the literalists out there (of which I am one)… I don’t think I’d use an aerosol can of oil on a grill over a flame. You will get quite a burst of flame! (I know because I’m a big dummy and tried this once. Duh.) You might be able to use an air-pump sprayer with safer results, though.
Thanks Isa for the recipe, though – this will definitely be on the grill this summer!
I made these tonight with my family, we (2 vegans and 2 omnis) DEVOURED them, they were excellent!!
I’d like to cast my vote for a Jewish Vegan Cookbook too!
(P.S.
A friend of mine sort of found one. It was called something like “The Low Cholesterol Passover Cookbook” and she found that “low cholesterol” was mostly code for “vegan.” Maybe that could be your way in the door?)
Count me IN for the JEWISH VEGAN COOKBOOK, too!
Thanks for this post – it’s so useful!
nice. Thanks
Beef steak has always been my all time favorite dish and i am always looking for some new recipes that has steak as the main ingredient.’,;
hi buddy, I found your site from wikipedia and read a few of your other blog posts.They are cool. Pls continue this great work. Alternatively, the federal office that governs the healthcare issues of federal employees, could deal with out-of-state insurers.
If you don’t have a grill (or the weather is uncooperative), these work nearly as well in a toaster oven set to ‘broil’ at 400 degrees. SO good.
I’m a meat eater and I just made my first grilled portobello mushrooms as directed in your cook book but I took the remaining marinade and simmered it on the stove in a shallow pan added a couple pinches of whole wheat flour and added about a cup of frozen spinach and made it into a sauce which I poured over some whole wheat spaghetti and topped it with my sliced up portobello. It was divine. I’m loving your recipes!
This looks so delicious! For those of us who don’t have grills or live in places where we can’t use them, is there an alternative for the stove or oven? I really would like to try this!
Made the roasted version of this last night, definitely wanting to try the grilled version. Loved this so much, and I was so delighted to see that you’d posted the recipe online so I could share my experience with it!
http://crashtestvegetarian.com/?p=1564 <== picture of my portobello success, thanks to you!
I just tried these tonight – lovely, but I think I’ll use less garlic next time, maybe only one clove. I found the garlic flavour a bit overpowering with four cloves.
That said, the mushrooms were wonderful – juicy and the perfect texture – and they got a thumbs up from the omnivore boyfriend 🙂 . Will definitely be making these again.
So delicious! Thank you! I’m a student and made this burger the night before an exam. It was such an awesome treat I’m definitely gonna make it again.
This is fantastic – the absolutely best portobello mushroom “burger” ever. The marinade is fabulous — so much so that I’ve decide to mix up a batch and keep it in the fridge for immediate availability. Truth be told, it’s even good on chicken (my husband is an “omni”), so I can always make a dual dinner easily for us. Also – thanks for the suggestion about leaving the gills of the mushrooms – the flavor was amazing. Lastly, I don’t have a grill, so I pan fried the mushrooms on med/med-hi heat, adding marinade and a little water when the pan dried out. …as i said… just fabulous!