Grilled Portabello Mushroom "Steaks" and Kale



Grilled Portabella Steaks with Grilled Onions

 My husband was craving "something meaty that's not meaty" the other night.  I named off a few meat substitute suggestions, but we honestly aren't really big on any of those options.  So I offered to grill up some big mushrooms.  He thought that sounded "okay" and was willing to try it.  But I could tell he was skeptical.  When a man wants meat, he just wants meat.

But when he walked in the door to the smell of the grill (we have an indoor grill) he perked up a bit.  Turns out they were really good and the whole family ate them up.  The marinade was great and actually gave the 'shrooms a steak-like flavor, and the texture of a big portabella is comparable to a tender cut of meat.  I'm not trying to pass these off as meat, just letting you know that they definitely worked to sooth that craving.

We had some toasted garlic bread and steamed Kale with our 'shroom steaks.  It was our first ever experience with kale, but not our last.  I loved, loved, loved it.  Great texture (more than a green) and great flavor. It was also cool that our son had learned about kale from a visiting farmer at school that very day. So we had an educational lesson as well as a great meal.  Did you know kale is actually in the same family as broccoli and cauliflower and not a green at all?  Yeah, I didn't know that either.  But I do know that it's super yummy.

KALE
All I did with the kale was rinse it, chop it coarsely and then steam it for about 3 minutes.  Don't go too long in the steamer--keep it a little crisp and bright green. I squeezed on fresh lemon juice and tossed it with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and some freshly minced garlic.  If you aren't a fan of raw garlic you can saute it for a couple minutes before tossing it in with the kale. That's it. Good stuff.

GRILLED PORTABELLA MUSHROOM STEAKS
I'll add in a few pics of the mushrooms so you can see how I cleaned them.  Don't rinse them or get them too wet when prepping them.  Just brush the dirt off with a towel or damp cloth.  I didn't marinate mine, I just brushed on the sauce before and during cooking.  I also brushed it on some onions and threw those on the grill, too.  The kids ate theirs cut up like a piece of meat, but my hubby and I had ours like an open faced steak sandwich on the garlic bread.


from the store

 This photo above is how the mushrooms look when you buy them.  You need to cut the stems out and use a spoon to clean them up a bit. Remember that they cook down a lot, so I bought 6 of them for the 4 of us. 


after cleaning

You can use whatever your favorite steak marinade is, or use mine.  I added in some A1 steak sauce just to make them taste a little more like a traditional meat dish.  It worked really well.

"STEAK" MARINADE1/4 c. olive oil (use veggie broth if you are not doing oil in your meals)
2 T. dark balsamic vinegar
2 T. A1 steak sauce (or your favorite)
1 T. finely minced onion
2 t. finely minced garlic
Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

Brush marinade on mushrooms and grill on medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes per side or until mushrooms soften and have obvious grill marks. Continue to brush on the marinade during cooking.

I had marinade left over, so I brushed some on an onion and grilled that, too.  I'll add a pic of the onions just so you can see my indoor grill--not expensive, but we get a lot of use out of it.  You can also buy grill pans to use on your gas stove.  Well worth the cost.

Try grilling other veggies, too.  The grill adds great flavor and is a little something different than just throwing veggies in the pan or steam basket.  Happy cooking!