Garlicky Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

Mushrooms have flavor and texture unlike any other vegetable since they are not truly a vegetable. They tend to absorb flavor well but also act like a sponge, which is why I shy away from using lots of oil in this recipe. You can tell that the mushrooms are done when they’re pliable all the way through. You can use a grill or a grill pan for this, and serve them as part of a wrap with a tortilla, large lettuce or collard green leaf.

By Jill Nussinow

Yield: 4 Servings
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

4 large Portobello mushrooms
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic or other vinegar
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley, or your 2 teaspoons of your favorite dried herb blend

Directions

Wipe mushrooms with a damp towel. Carefully remove mushroom stems, by popping them off, and gills, by scraping with a tablespoon, and set them aside. (You can add them to stock or use them for another recipe.)
Combine the remaining ingredients in a zippered bag or shallow baking dish. Add mushrooms and marinate for 1 hour, flipping mushrooms halfway through.
Heat a grill pan or skillet and cook over medium heat.
Remove the mushrooms from the marinade and place on the hot pan or grill, gill side down. (You can cook down the marinade to make a balsamic glaze if you like.)
Let mushroom cook for 5 minutes and then flip so cap side is in contact with pan or grill. Let cook another 5 minutes or until the cap is pliable and cooked through. You will likely see liquid pooling in the mushroom cap, which means that the mushroom is getting cooked through. It might be as much as 15 minutes total
Serve the mushroom whole on a bun, or sliced with lettuce, tomato and red onion in a tortilla or green leaf as a wrap.