Simply Satisfying – stuffed Portabello mushrooms

This can almost suffice as a meal on its own, but giant portabello mushrooms are terrific as a side dish for grilled fish or steak, or as a vegetarian main dish because they have that meaty ‘steak like’ texture.  They’re healthy, filling and so satisfying.  Here is a recipe that’s not really a recipe.

How-to:

Remove stems from mushrooms and reserve for another use, such as stock. Hollow out a bit of the mushroom taking care not to cut through the whole thing – just scoop out some of the flesh to make room for stuffing. Brush mushrooms all over with oil.

Prepare quinoa or rice (I recommend wild rice if you don’t want to use quinoa) ahead of time.  Wash 1 ½ cups of quinoa or rice & place in pot with 3 cups of water/stock (I like chicken or veggie ‘better than’ bouillon).  You’ll have more than enough – but more is always better.

In a separate pan with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil sauté the following vegetables (although you can improvise using whatever veggies you prefer).

I used what was on hand:

1 chopped onion, 1 chopped red pepper, french-cut green beans, sundried tomatoes & a few mushrooms (you can also use the stems which you must remove from the Portabello).  Just sauté with s+p (plus other spices) until tender but still slightly crisp. I then added cuban-style black beans, corn, peas & quinoa (you decide how much)  to the mix.

Place mushrooms, cut side down, on greased cookie sheet (or pyrex) in a 350F oven just until juices start to release, about 4 minutes.  Take out of oven.

Turn mushrooms and spoon filling.  At this point I added sliced green onions & feta on top (although parmesan would be nice too), drizzle with a bit more olive oil and cook mushrooms until tender, about 15 more minutes.

Enjoy!