Recipes: Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burgers  10-15-08

As grills fire up across the country for football tailgates, try serving meaty Portobello mushrooms as a replacement for your usual fare. In addition to cutting out saturated fat, by enjoying Portobello's in place of traditional burgers you may help reduce your cancer risk, as research now shows a convincing link between excess red meat consumption and colorectal cancer. Mushrooms are also a good source of the mineral selenium, which may protect against cancer by promoting DNA repair.

Portobello Burgers

4 large Organic Portobello mushrooms
2 cloves organic garlic, sliced into very thin slivers
1 tsp. fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp. dried or 1 drop essential oil
1 tsp. fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried or 1 drop essential oil
3 Tbsp. organic extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. organic balsamic or red wine vinegar
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 organic beefsteak tomato, sliced
4 large organic romaine or spinach leaves
4 gluten free buns

Preheat grill (or broiler). Wipe mushrooms with damp cloth. Remove stems. With paring knife, make slits in tops of caps. Stuff slivers of garlic and herbs into slits.

In small bowl whisk together oil (add essential oils) and vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. Brush mushrooms with oil mixture.

Place mushrooms, cap-side down, on pan and broil or grill until soft and brown, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.

Serve with lettuce and tomato on toasted gluten free or Ezekiel buns.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 200 calories, 7 g total fat (1 g saturated fat), 29 g carbohydrate, 6 g protein, 5 g dietary fiber, 290 mg sodium