Portobello Shawarma and Quinoa Tabouleh

I’m always drawn to the flavors of Levantine cooking and the generous use of vegetables in varied dishes. A new book starts with those flavors and adds new ingredients to open up the possibilities of this style of cuisine. The book is Levant: New Middle Eastern Cooking from Tanoreen by Rawia Bishara, and I received a review copy. Her first book, Olives, Lemons, and Za’atar, stuck more closely to traditional recipes, but this time, she explores some new directions as she does at her New York restaurant Tanoreen. What I enjoyed about this book is that it gives you freedom to roam about a bit with traditional dishes. Rather than sticking to how a dish has always been made, new discoveries are celebrated and encouraged. The recipes are still inspired by Middle Eastern cooking but with a new perspective. For instance, the Shakshuka is a green version made with tomatillos, poblanos, and summer squash. Although hummus literally translates to chickpeas, here the concept is expanded into four variations, none of which include chickpeas. And, I can’t wait to try the Avocado Hummus. The Fall Fattoush is a twist on the familiar pita bread salad made with red cabbage, radicchio, and shredded beet. There’s a vegetarian Kibbie made with potatoes and spices that’s served on a lentil stew that looks perfect for a cold, fall day. There are meat dishes too like Harissa Baked Chicken, Tanoreen Spiced Cornish Hens, and Grilled Fish Kabobs. But, I got sidetracked among all the vegetable options and had to try the Portobello Shawarma and Quinoa Tabouleh first. 

This vegan shawarma starts with chopped Portobello mushrooms and lots of spices. The chopped mushrooms were combined with black pepper, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, cardamom, nutmeg, chopped fresh garlic, olive oil, and white vinegar. The mixture was cooked in a heated skillet until the mushrooms were tender. I was surprised at the amount of vinegar but found that it gave the mixture just the right added flavor. The cooked mixture was intended to be served on fresh pita with sandwich toppings like cucumber, tomatoes, pickles, and tahini sauce. I went in more of an appetizer direction and served the mixture on homemade, baked pita chips, and topped it with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs. The Quinoa Tabouleh is a lot like the traditional dish only with quinoa used in place of bulgur wheat. Diced fennel is suggested along with tomatoes and cucumbers, but since that’s not in season here I used chopped yellow zucchini instead. Lots parsley, cilantro, mint, green onions, and lemon gave it the expected flavors of tabouleh. 

I always like vegetarian dishes like this Portobello Shawarma, but these mushrooms actually caught me by surprise. The spices, garlic, and vinegar gave the mushrooms incredible flavor. They would have made a fantastic sandwich filling and were a fun topping for pita chips. The tabouleh was as fresh and bright as ever but just a little different with quinoa instead of bulgur wheat. It’s inspiring to see new takes like these on traditional dishes, and the results are delicious.

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Beer-Braised Portobello Sandwich with Roasted Red Peppers on Focaccia

In 2008, I visited Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix and have fond memories of the incredible pizza, the bread, and the vegetables on the antipasto platter. At some later date, I read an essay by Chris Bianco in How I Learned To Cook that made clear his appreciation for local, seasonal food. It was about a visit to Italy when he was 18, and a simple but perfect meal he was served consisting of farm fresh, just picked white asparagus and hard-boiled eggs drizzled with olive oil. It was then that he came to realize how good fresh food that’s particular to its place is. I haven’t had a chance to return to Phoenix since Pane Bianco and Tratto opened. But, now I can create his style of cooking at home since receiving a review copy of Bianco: Pizza, Pasta, and Other Food I Like. Throughout the book, he mentions the ingredients he uses, what’s special about them, and how using the fresh, local, heirloom foods makes his dishes the best they can be. And, he offers great advice like tasting your water to determine if it’s salty or sweet or what it’s flavor really is. For pizza dough, he recommends using freshly milled flour from locally-grown grain. He explains the value of using tepary and emergo beans, Churro lamb, and I’itoi onions, all grown in Arizona, to bring together the history of his current home and that of his family’s culture and food. The book includes recipes for pizza and focaccia, salads, sandwiches, pasta and grains, small plates, big plates, and sweets. There’s a no-nonsense kind of approach to making sure every dish tastes fantastic. For instance, the sandwiches are built with a balance of texture, acidity, and fat in mind, and you can create new combinations based on that balance. I can’t wait to try the Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Sandwich and the Frittata Sandwich with arugula. As soon the lemons on my backyard tree are ready to pick, as Bianco suggests in the recipe head note, I’ll make the Tagliatelle with Lemon and Polpette de Ceci. And, the classic Lasagna al Forno with besciamella will undoubtedly be a crowd-pleaser. Right away, I wanted to make the focaccia, and I had some just-milled, locally-grown whole wheat flour to use. I also had some red bell peppers from my CSA and decided to roast and marinate them like the Grilled Red Peppers in the book. The Mushrooms and Beer recipe had also got my attention, and I thought sliced portobellos with red pepper strips would be great on a focaccia sandwich.

For the focaccia, the dough is the same as that for the pizza. It’s made with a small amount of yeast and proofs for three hours. To make it into focaccia, the dough is then spread on a baking sheet and drizzled with olive oil. As it rests for an hour and a half, the dough expands and spreads to fill the sheet pan. Before baking, the dough was dimpled, my favorite part, and sprinkled with chopped rosemary and flaky sea salt. Since I wasn’t using the grill that day, I roasted my bell peppers on top of the stove over direct flame. After cooling, the charred skin was removed, and the peppers were cut into strips. Garlic, basil leaves, olive oil, and salt and pepper were added to the pepper strips in a bowl, and the mixture was left to marinate. As if the baking focaccia and marinating peppers didn’t smell fabulous enough already, the aroma of the roasting mushrooms in beer made the kitchen smell even more delicious. And, I learned something here. In the past, I’ve never bothered to remove the gills from portobello mushrooms, but since it was suggested here, I did so. It convinced me it’s worth the effort because the end result is a better texture. The cleaned mushrooms were drizzled and coated with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with sliced garlic and rosemary sprigs, and then covered with beer before roasting. When the pan was removed from the oven, the mushrooms were taken from the pan and set aside while the pan was deglazed with a bit of remaining beer. I sliced the mushrooms and placed them in a bowl and covered them with the pan juices. 

The sandwiches were built with slices of mushrooms, strips of marinated red pepper, and a mound of arugula leaves. A slice of gorgonzola wasn’t out of place on these either. I’m completely onboard with the food philosophy presented here and can never resist the flavors of Italian cuisine. Until I can plan another trip to Phoenix, I’ll cook these recipes at home. 

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Vietnamese-Style Portobello Mushrooms

This was our conversation: Me- “I cooked from a new book for dinner tonight. The book is The Essential New York Times Grilling Cookbook (review copy), and it includes recipes and writing related to grilling from the entire history of The Times.” Kurt- “A grilling book! What did you grill?” Me- “Vietnamese-Style Portobello Mushrooms.” Kurt- “You have a new grilling book…and, you made mushrooms?” Me- “Of course!” His hopes for a steak off the grill were dashed, but he did enjoy the portobellos. The book does include plenty of recipes for meats with an entire chapter for Burgers, one for Beef and Veal, one for Pork, another just for Lamb, a Poultry chapter, and one for Fish and Shellfish. But, there are also Starters, Vegetables and Sides, Desserts and Breads, and Marinades Rubs and Sauces. I also have Amanda Hesser’s The Essential New York Times Cookbook, and I haven’t done a page by page search to find out how many recipes are included in both books. One difference between the two books, though, is that this grilling book includes writing in addition to recipes. The first story is about Mr. Gunning’s Barbecue in Mount Vernon which appeared on March 30 in 1887. There are stories and accompanying recipes from over the years from writers and contributors like Craig Claiborne, Pierre Franey, Jane Nickerson, Steven Raichlen, Florence Fabricant, Mark Bittman, Julia Moskin, Sam Sifton, and many more. I particularly enjoyed the story by Sam Sifton about hog roasting in a La Caja China which is a Cuban roasting box. He attempted to track down the reason for the name (the explanation is that “Cubans like to call anything that is unusual or clever Chinese”), and in the process found out about other cultures that roast pigs in boxes. All of this interest resulted in a mojo-brined, roasted pig served with black beans and rice and plenty of rum, and I ended up craving Cuban flavors after reading about it. My Cuban feast had to wait because a few pages later, I was taken with Mark Bittman’s description of various grilled vegetables including Portobello mushrooms. 

I want to mention what I think is an important ingredient in all grilling recipes, and that’s the smoke from the hardwood coals. The convenience of gas grills is great, and I sometimes just grill in a grill-pan inside for nice char marks. But, natural hardwood coals impart added flavor to grilled food like nothing else. With these grilled portobellos, it was an integral part of the resulting dish. To start, a marinade was made with peanut oil, lime juice, chopped mint, minced Thai chile, and fish sauce. I spooned half the marinade over the cleaned mushroom caps and left them to sit while the grill was prepped. Once on the grill, the mushrooms were brushed with more of the marinade as they cooked. They need almost 20 minutes of grilling over medium heat to cook all the way through and become tender. After taking them off the grill, I let the mushrooms sit for a few minutes before slicing them and serving them garnished with sliced chiles and chopped green onion and mint. I served the sliced Portobellos with a Vietnamese rice noodle salad inspired by one found on David Lebovitz’s site. I simplified the salad by only adding cucumber, carrot, chiles, and baked tofu and topped it with chopped peanuts and fried shallots. 

The mushrooms were loaded with flavor from the marinade combined with smoky flavor from the grill. Some of the other recipes from the story about grilled vegetables were Chili-Rubbed Jicama Steaks with Queso Fresco, Teriyaki Cabbage Steaks, Curry-Rubbed Sweet Potato Planks, and Miso-Glazed Eggplant Slices. I want to try those on the grill too. And, yes, I will eventually turn to the meat chapters to grill something just for Kurt.  

Vietnamese-Style Portobello Mushrooms 
Recipe reprinted with publisher's permission from The Essential New York Times Grilling Cookbook.
Time: 20 minutes Yield: 4 servings 

1⁄4 cup peanut oil 
1⁄4 cup fresh lime juice 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus more for garnish 
1 fresh hot red chili (like Thai), seeded and minced 
1 tablespoon fish sauce 
1⁄2 teaspoon sugar 
Salt and lots of black pepper 
4 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed 

1. Heat a charcoal or gas grill until quite hot and put rack about 4 inches from flame. Mix together oil, lime juice, mint, chili, fish sauce and sugar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brush mushrooms all over with about half of this mixture. 

2. Grill mushrooms with tops of their caps away from heat until they begin to brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Brush with remaining marinade and turn. Grill until tender and nicely browned all over, 5 to 10 minutes more. Garnish with more mint and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

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Grilled Sesame-Ginger Asparagus and Portobello Salad

I’ve gotten used to and enjoy the surprise of what we receive from our CSA. There was a time when I dreaded one more bunch of greens, but now I look forward to using every last leaf when they’re in season. Another item that I previously found challenging to use was red cabbage. I prefer it raw rather than cooked, and I’ve finally amassed enough salad and slaw options that I love finding a dark purple head of it sitting our Farmhouse Delivery box. Lately, I’ve come to especially like Asian flavors mixed into a salad or slaw with red cabbage. I usually just wing it and start mixing ginger, garlic, lime juice, sesame oil, and a little vegetable oil for dressing the chopped cabbage. But, for this most recent salad, I turned to The Fresh and Green Table by Susie Middleton. I always find great ideas for all seasons in that book, and it has yet to disappoint. In the book, this salad is shown with grilled asparagus and portobello slices on top of a salad made with Napa cabbage and spinach. I switched it up by using red cabbage with spinach instead and loved the mix of dark purpley reds, several shades of green, the whites of the green onions, and the dark browns and blacks of the mushrooms. 

The marinade for the mushrooms was made first. Peanut oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, minced garlic, and minced ginger were whisked together. A few tablespoons of the dressing were set aside, and the rest was poured over the mushroom caps in a baking dish. They were left to marinate for about 30 minutes. Just before cooking, the asparagus spears were added to the baking dish and turned in the marinade. I used a grill pan inside to grill the vegetables, and the portobellos were sliced after coming off the grill pan. In a big mixing bowl, thinly sliced red cabbage, torn spinach leaves, some sliced green onions, and cilantro leaves were combined. The spinach and green onions were also from our CSA, and the cilantro was from my herb garden. To the bit of reserved marinade, lime juice and some soy sauce were added, and most of that was poured over the raw vegetables. It was tossed with the cabbage and spinach mixture before transferring the salad to a serving platter. The grilled asparagus was set on top followed by slices of the grilled portobellos. The remaining dressing was drizzled over top, and more cilantro leaves, sliced green onions, and sesame seeds were added for garnish. 

The flavors were as good as I knew they would be, and I loved that the mushrooms and asparagus made this a meal of a salad. There was a great mix of textures and temperatures between the crunchy, cool, raw vegetables at the base and the warm, grilled top layer. I’m not sure if we’ll see another head of red cabbage in our CSA box this season, but if we do, I’ll be delighted. 

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Vegetarian Muffuletta

As I put together the Marinated Cauliflower, Olive, and Caper Salad, it reminded me a lot of the kind of olive salad that’s usually on a muffuletta. The only problem for me with a standard muffuletta is that it’s usually filled with several varieties of salami and ham which all fall into the red meat category that I avoid. So, I thought, why not build a vegetarian muffuletta? I skipped the meat and sliced roasted portobellos to take its place and added a layer of piquillo peppers. I chopped the Marinated Cauliflower Salad to a smaller size before adding a generous portion to the sandwich. Just as a muffuletta should be, this was a piled-high sandwich with big flavors. I’m not sure if this version will catch on in New Orleans, but it was hit at my house for Mardi Gras. 

I started with ciabatta rolls which were sliced, brushed with olive oil and toasted. From the bottom up, I layered arugula leaves, sliced provolone, roasted and sliced portobellos, and piquillo peppers. Of course, any roasted red pepper would add good color and flavor, but I had some piquillos on hand. Next up, I chopped some pepperoncini which were added before the chopped cauliflower salad. A little more arugula sat on top, and that was the sandwich. 

I love how the dressing from the cauliflower salad and the brine from the pepperoncini seep into the crunchy, toasted bread and flavor the whole sandwich. And, it’s a sandwich that requires a napkin or two to be served with it, but that’s part of the charm of a muffuletta. Mardi Gras inspired this creation, but from now on, it will make year-round appearances in our sandwich rotation. 

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Grilled Portobello Pizzas

While I was in the desert, Austin received a whole lot of rain, and since I’ve returned home, we’ve had a few more rainy days. All this rain means my basil plants couldn’t be happier. Happy basil means pesto. I found a slightly different approach to basil pesto in Martha Stewart's Healthy Quick Cook. That version uses roasted garlic and rough-cut basil leaves with very little olive oil. I went that route, sort of, for a lighter style of pesto. Rather than rough cutting, I tossed everything into a food processor, and I had some pine nuts on hand, so I added them as well. Also in that book, this light pesto is used on grilled portobellos topped with a cherry tomato salad with more roasted garlic and shavings of parmigiano reggiano. I’ve made a few versions of portobello pizzas before, and one of my favorites involved hummus and a thick slab of feta. The portobello pizzas shown here were much lighter but just as flavorful. It’s amazing how substantial a portobello seems although it’s all vegetable, and roasted garlic and parmigiano add great depth and interest.

Because this book is devoted to healthy dishes, very little oil is used in the recipes. Now, ordinarily, when I roast garlic, I cut off the tops of the bulbs, pour olive oil over them, and add salt and pepper. This time, I skipped the oil on the garlic and just added a small pinch of salt and some crushed red pepper flakes. I wrapped the garlic in parchment and foil and roasted it for about 40 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, I squeezed the soft garlic from the bulbs. It’s just as delicious without the oil. Some of that was used in the basil pesto, and the rest was used in the cherry tomato salad. Thyme leaves and chopped cherry tomatoes were added to the mashed, roasted garlic and a scant tablespoon of olive oil, and it was tossed to combine. I used some locally grown portobellos that were lightly brushed with oil and seasoned before being grilled for four minutes per side. They were then topped with the cherry tomato and roasted garlic salad, they got a drizzle of basil pesto, and shaved parmigiano reggiano was set on top of each.

Admittedly, I don’t always cook with light and healthy in mind, but a dish like this is a great reminder than you don’t always need as much oil in a recipe as you might think. This certainly didn’t taste like diet food. It was also a reminder that with ingredients like homegrown basil, fresh, local tomatoes and portobellos, and great cheese, you don’t need to embellish them much. And, with this way of cooking, my bottle of olive oil will last a little longer.

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Seared Portobello and Wilted Greens over Barley Pilaf

While looking through my filed, old magazine pages, I re-discovered this meal which I think came from Living magazine in 1998. The issue date is not printed on the page, and I couldn’t find this recipe on the web site, but an ad on the back of the page has a 1998 copyright date. And, that concludes my research into the origins of seared portobello and mixed greens over barley pilaf. In the magazine, it was made with chard, but I used a mix of braising greens from my CSA. This is, indeed, one of those grainy, healthy, vegetarian types of meals, but sometimes that’s just what I want. Even though it is very healthy, the portobellos lend a savory meatiness, and barley is a hearty, chewy grain, so the meal doesn’t feel lacking or too light. Also, the sauce provides extra flavor and just a hint of richness.

I made a couple of minor changes to the original recipe, and there’s one more change I would make next time. To begin, onion was briefly cooked before the barley was added. Next time, I would let the onion caramelize and then add the barley. Cooking the onion further would have developed even more flavor in the barley layer of the dish. With that in mind, here’s how I’ll prepare this in the future:

3 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3/4 c barley
2 large portobellos, stems trimmed
1/4 c marsala wine
2 c vegetable broth
2 t chopped fresh rosemary
1 lb braising greens, stemmed and chopped
1 T unsalted butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

- heat a medium saucepan over medium high heat with 1 T olive oil, add onion and stir until just browned
- add barley to saucepan and stir frequently until toasted, about eight minutes
- add about one teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 c water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and let simmer until water is absorbed, about 20 minutes; remove saucepan from heat and keep covered
- heat a large skillet over medium heat with 2 T olive oil, add portobellos, tops up, cover, and cook for eight minutes; turn portobellos and cook eight minutes more; transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm
- add marsala to skillet and cook while stirring to loosen any bits stuck to the pan; increase heat to high and add vegetable broth, rosemary, and several turns of a pepper grinder; cook until liquid has reduced to 1/2 c, about 12 minutes; taste and adjust seasoning as needed
- add greens to skillet and cook, stirring, until greens have wilted and softened, about three minutes; transfer greens to a plate
- add butter to skillet and stir to incorporate
- spoon barley onto the center of each of two plates, top each with half the greens, slice the portobellos and place on top of greens, spoon sauce over top, and sprinkle on extra chopped rosemary if you’d like

Barley is a natural fit with mushrooms to my mind, and the greens joined in well. The flavors were earthy and wintery with the rosemary accent, the sauce had a nice depth, and the butter, of course, made all the difference. This healthy meal was quick to prepare and disappeared from our plates even more quickly.

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