I’m a little behind the eight ball on preparation for this week’s battle with mushrooms because David and I were on vacation most of last week and only arrived back in town this morning, on the red-eye. So I’m exhausted, unprepared and kind of uninterested in taking down mushrooms right now. Cooking, blah.
Nevertheless, bleary-eyed and bored, I mapped out a preliminary plan for this week, which will be a little different than most weeks. For one thing, mushrooms aren’t actually vegetables, they’re fungi. I don’t know what to do with that information. I considered removing them from the list, but they’re such a ubiquitous food that I felt I would be doing a disservice to myself by not including them. The other thing is that because there are so many types of mushrooms, I’m going to try something new every night with a different kind of mushie rather than checking out for the week after I win tonight. I know, I’m getting crazy with the rules. Calm down.
Tonight I’m making grilled portabella burgers, which I chose because I’m hoping I won’t have to do too much other than slap that bad boy on some bread and call it a day. But despite how easy I think the cooking part will be, I am most afraid of actually eating portabellas than I am any other mushroom. They’re so big and it will be the main event on my plate (I mean, really, it’s so big), so there’s basically no escaping it. It just now occurred to me that I don’t have a back-up plan for if I fail. Like, if I truly hate portabellas, what am I going to do for dinner tonight? Blastit.
I have pretty solid plans for three other nights–Sarah L.’s creamy mushroom risotto with rosemary pork loin, Sarah F.’s stuffed mushrooms, and Parker’s on Ponce’s side of some-kind-of-mushroom-but-I-don’t-know-which-one-I-just-know-I-was-forced-to-eat-one-once-and-it-didn’t-kill-me with the bloodiest red meat of my choice, mmmmmm (I’m taking a break from cooking and going out for this one)–but I need one more good suggestion for Friday. Something easy.
For christ’s sake, it’s only Week 2.
Julie vs. Vegetables 
Really, you don’t like mushrooms? Even on a burger? I would recommend eating them as a side…Maybe saute with some garlic and olive oil (yes, EVOO, Rachael Ray!) until they are delicious and brown, and then combine with some tasty cooked white rice. You like rice, right? Or you could serve with a side of sauteed spinach. But you may not like spinach. I need to check your list.
Anyway, I LOVE your project. It’s fantastic.
Mushroom and feta (or other cheese of choice) pizza? Friday night says pizza night to me. I could even piont you to an easy whole wheat pizza dough recipe.
How about a mushroom pizza? You can’t go wrong with bread and cheese and tomato sauce (and mushrooms)?
Many restaurants have fried mushrooms that they serve with horseradish sauce. I could easily make a meal just on that.
Also, piggybacking on Annemarie’s comment, mushrooms sauteed in olive oil or butter are GREAT on a cheeseburger….as long as it’s some kind of white cheese.
Good luck! I know you’ll win again this week! Because, you’re a winner!
I like Avery’s idea…you can fit a lot of veggies on a pizza. I mean, we even had a summer squash pizza once in San Francisco, and it was amazing. And mushrooms are delish. We make a baked chicken with wild rice, mushrooms, and toasted almonds that’s pretty tasty.
Mushrooms are definitely not a vegetable, but are certainly tough to swallow.
I hate mushrooms on pizza, but I do like some varieties.
Portabella shrooms may be big, but marinated and grilled just right, they can taste like steak. You can do it.
Thanks for the suggestions, all. I think I’m going to go with pizza, because despite the fact that Elwood hates them on pizza, he also said portabellas taste like steak and that’s just bullshit. Portabellas taste like mushrooms. Steak tastes like steak. Mmmmm, meat.