Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich on Focaccia

Alright, so here's the story behind this recipe. The past two summers I lived with my dad down in sunny Foster City, CA, about thirty minutes south of San Francisco. My dad looooves to grill. More specifically, my dad loves to grill meat: steak, burgers, chicken, shark (yes, he made me eat shark one time). You name it..if it's meat, he'll grill it. Imagine his surprise when I decided to become vegan. So, he needed something to grill that I could eat. Solution? Portobello mushrooms! They hold up great on the grill and make an excellent meat replacement between some bread. Slap some condiments on it and you got a meal. So, here it is, grilled portobello mushrooms with grilled onions and arugula on garlic and green onion focaccia. Now, don't feel like you have to make your own bread in order to enjoy this...your favorite store bought focaccia, sourdough, wheat bread, hamburger bun, pita, etc. will work just great—but this focaccia is super easy, super good, and totally worth a shot.

Green Onion and Garlic Focaccia:

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons yeast
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ¾ cups warm water (should feel warm to the touch, but not hot)
about 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 green onion
2 cloves garlic

1. Mix 4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons yeast, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add 1 ¾ cups warm water slowly while mixing.

3. Using your hands mix the dough in the bowl, folding it over into itself. If it sticks to your hands so much it barely comes off, add a bit of flour. Too dry? Add a bit more water.

4. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and let sit in a warm place for an hour, or until it's about twice its original size.

5. Grease a baking dish (any shape baking dish will do, I use a rectangular 8x11—I think) with about 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. The bottom and sides should be WELL COATED.

6. Put dough in baking dish. Spread it out evenly in the pan the best you can. Cover again and let sit in a warm spot for another 30 minutes.

7. After the 30 minutes is up, use your finger to poke several (7-10) dimples into the dough. Now, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. While the oven is preheating, slice the green onion and finely chop the garlic. Place it in a bowl with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix.

9. Using your hands, spread the onion mixture over the dough. Lightly press it into the dough, but don't press too hard or else it'll deflate the risen dough.

10. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned on the top.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich:

Suggestion: keep in mind the size of your sandwiches and plan accordingly. If you’re making this as a main dish, be generous with the mushroom. I’d go with one per serving. If you’re serving this as part of a meal (ie with soup or salad) I’d use about ½ a mushroom per serving.

Ingredients:
About 1 portobello mushroom per serving (if you leave the mushroom whole, use one per person. If slicing, about ½ per serving)
1 slice of red onion per serving
arugula
salt
pepper
olive oil for drizzling
Focaccia (see recipe above) or bread of your choice
Veganaise (vegan mayo—can be found at Whole Foods and most local organic/health food stores) or regular mayo

1. Prep all your ingredients. Slice the onion. Clean the mushrooms using a damp paper towel and lightly brushing off any dirt. Running mushrooms under water gives them a tough texture.

2. Lightly drizzle the onion slices and the mushrooms with olive oil. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

3. Turn on your grill, George Foreman, grill pan, or plain old skillet.

4. Grill mushrooms until the juice starts running out of them-you'll know when this happens. Grill the onions until they are tender and have some nice grill marks. If using a George Foreman type grill, you won’t need to flip it. If not, start the mushrooms with cap side down. Flip when the mushrooms start to flatten out.

5. Slice the bread.

6. Spread the mayo.

7. Place the arugula on the bread.

8. Slice the mushrooms and put it on the arugula. Or leave it whole, it's up to you.

9. Put the onions on.

10. Top with the other bread.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

But really, let's get serious here...it's a sandwich. Ingredients between bread. Want to put the mushroom on first? Go for it. This is the way I did it, but feel free to make it your own. Just remember: the key to good sandwich construction is using the mayo or other condiments as the glue to hold the ingredients in.

Enjoy!