Portabella Mushroom Burger

I can't believe that I haven't posted this recipe yet. I discovered it in a William Sonoma Vegetarian cookbook a couple of years ago and have made them several times since. I wanted to make them for Andrew for Father's Day but was missing a few of the key ingredients so I mixed things up a bit and it still tasted awesome.

Ingredients:
Portabella Mushrooms (remove stems and scrape off the ribs)
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Garlic
Roasted Red Peppers
Swiss cheese (Or the cheese of your choice)
Italian Rolls
Mayo
Pesto

Directions: Sorry that I don't have any amounts listed. I'm away from my cookbooks this summer but I promise that you can't go wrong with this. Mix about a 1/4 c of mayo with 1 T pesto (or more to your liking) and put in fridge. Grill the mushrooms in a skillet on the stovetop or in the George if you don't have a grill- I've never actually grilled them but I bet they would be tasty that way. Mix a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of tsp of balsamic vinegar. Add a couple cloves of crushed garlic. Brush this mixture onto the mushrooms as you are grilling them. Set aside mushrooms and grill your roasted red peppers quickly on the grill- just to heat them up. Meanwhile toast your rolls in the oven. Spread a generous amount of the pesto/mayo mix on the bun, add your mushroom, cheese, and red pepper and voila! I usually serve this meal with baked sweet potato fries. Tonight, I made these just a little differently. They didn't have portabella so I just got another kind of mushroom and cut it into slices. Since I don't have a brush I just poured the garlic oil vinegar mixture onto the mushrooms in the pan and cooked them until tender. No roasted red peppers here either and I was not in the mood to roast them myself so I picked up some roasted red paprika- it tasted better I think. No sliced cheese in my fridge so I used grated mozerella. And I didn't have any fancy rolls so I just used sandwhich bread. I put it all together in the sandwhich in the skillet and grilled it like you would a grilled cheese. It was seriously good. A great summer meal if you ask me.

Mandy

Kefta

Has it really been four months since any of us have posted any recipes? Surely I've made something interesting in that time but my memory fails me just now. No matter, I made the most delicious Kefta tonight and you just have to try it. Kefta is just a greek meatball and of course I found the recipe for these on my favorite blog ever (uh...besides yours that is)- smitten kitchen. The allspice and cinnamon give it a really unique flavor.
Tips:  don't overdue the salt. It calls for 1 tsp and I wouldn't add any more than that. My only complaint was that it was a teensy bit salty. Also, I used ground turkey- not dark. Use half of the cayenne it calls for unless you like it really spicy. I don't have a grill here so I had to fry them on the stove top. Just roll each ball in a little flour and drop in the oil. Turn once after it's browned and then set them on some paper towels. Oh, and the tatziki sauce was gross. Maybe the yogurt here is a little different but... I don't think you really need a sauce with it. I served it with rice and a tomato/cucumber/feta cheese salad.