The joy of portobello burgers made from scratch

Caught in the throes of mushroom withdrawal, Paul came up with a wonderful idea for dinner the other night: portobello mushroom burgers. Unfortunately, our CSA rarely distributes mushrooms, so we had to make a trip to the grocery store for them.

A portobello mushroom has been called the vegetarian's steak. I wouldn't call its texture meaty, but it has a heft to it that pleasantly resists your teeth's attempts to cut into it, and when done well spills its delicious juices all over your tongue.

To do the glorious mushrooms justice, we baked a fresh batch of rolls. Our trusty bread machine made the dough; the oven did the rest. For the fixins, we roasted some beets in foil and made some vegan mayonnaise.

Roasted beets
Set convection toaster oven to 400F. Wrap two whole beets in foil (together, not individually), and place on an oven-safe pan. Roast in oven for 40-50 minutes or so until a fork can pierce them through.

Vegan mayonnaise (from Vegetarian Times cookbook)
2 cups bread crumbs, the fresher, the better
juice of 2 medium lemons (1/2 cup or so)
3-5 cloves garlic, to taste
1 t salt
2/3 cup olive oil
Food processor

1. Combine bread crumbs and lemon juice in a bowl.
2. Turn on food processor. Drop in garlic and salt, then add bread crumb mixture.
3. Drizzle in olive oil slowly (1 tsp every second or so). Whip until creamy.

Portobello mushroom burgers with beets and vegan mayonnaise

For each burger:
1 portobello mushroom, dirt brushed off, gills intact, stem removed (or cut flush with the bottom)
1 roll (freshly baked is best)
1 slice of cheese (we used smoked Gouda)
2 slices of roasted beet
1-2 T vegan mayonnaise

1. Set convection toaster oven to broil at 450F.
2. Place mushroom on a rack over an oven-safe pan.
3. Broil mushroom for 10-15 minutes. Start at 10 and increase the time as necessary. It's done when juices are beginning to drip out.
4. Assemble the burger: Slice roll in half and spread mayonnaise on each side. Place beet slices on one side and cheese on the other. Place mushroom on top of cheese and close the burger.
5. Devour. I enjoy mine with a glass of sweet tea.