Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich

When grocery shopping the other day there were some beautiful portobello mushrooms I had to buy they looked so good. I haven't had a portobello mushroom sandwich in who knows how long, so I thought it'd be good to make something different for my mom and me. As a vegetarian, mushrooms are always a hearty alternative to meat that offer great flavor and texture. I love the colors and textures going on in sandwich and it was SO good! My mom and I played around with it and added some unique and personal touches to make it something truly special.


In tandem with my attempts of eating healthier and controlling my portion sizes (although the sandwich still turned out to be gigantic) a good trick is to make your sandwich open-faced. Eliminating a piece of bread cuts back 100 calories for me, but instead of cutting the one slice in half, I like to leave it open face and add some more ingredients so I still feel like I'm getting a good-sized meal. ...think of it as a pizza with your bread slice as the crust and a TON of hearty toppings!


Here's how I did it...


Ingredients:
olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder
Italian seasoning
3 medium portobello mushrooms, sliced to 1/2 inch
1 red bell pepper
spinach
cheese of your choice (I used mozzarella because I had some leftover in my fridge)
1 fried egg
dijon mustard
bread


Remove the stem and seeds of the bell pepper, cut it in quarters, and drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper over the four pieces. Place the bell pepper skin side down on a pan and bake for 30 minutes in a 400° oven.
In a large bowl, mix the sliced mushrooms with 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper, 1 tsp. garlic powder, and 1 tsp. Italian seasoning. Toss the mushrooms around so every piece is seasoned.
Heat a grill over medium heat, place some oil olive on the grill, and lay the mushroom slices evenly over the grill top. Grill about 1 1/2 minutes on each side.


Once the bell peppers are done, remove from the oven, let cool, then remove the skin. If it's difficult to remove the skin, throw the bell peppers skin side down on the heated grill top. Once the skin is charred, remove the peppers and the skin should be easy to remove.


If desired, spread some butter on the bread and toast it on the grill top until nicely toasted. Flip the bread and place the cheese on the first-toasted side to allow it to melt. Once both sides are nicely toasted, remove it from the grill, pile on the spinach, roasted peppers, mustard (or preferred condiment) and fried egg. My mom thought to put the egg on top and it was so so good. Crispy around the edges with a slightly runny yolk. Delish.


We made this sandwich another time using some left over pesto instead of mustard and that was also really good. I might have preferred the mustard though -- more of a typical deli taste.


That's one thing I love about cooking; there aren't any rules! If you want pesto instead of mustard, then use pesto! If you want a fried egg, a scrambled egg, a green egg...it doesn't matter. Use what's preferable to you, be creative, and have fun mustering up your own recipes. :)


This one was truly satisfying to me. Hope you all enjoy!