Portobello Caprese Burgers + Free Printables

July 3, 2017 No Comments A Well Crafted Pantry

I’m a meat eater. I love, love, love me a good beef burger. However, for a variety of reasons, my family and I do try our best to NOT eat meat one day a week at least. As much as we enjoy meat, we enjoy vegetables just as much. I really thrive on creating meatless menu options for our weekly dinners. This Portobello Caprese Burger is a great substitute if you’re wanting to cut back on the meat a bit but still want something hearty and flavorful. It is also a fantastic for a vegetarian burger option at your next cookout! (Just remember to cook BEFORE cooking your meat on the grill so that you’re not giving your vegetarian friend meat drippings on their vegetarian burger!)

Portobello Caprese Burgers

Portobello mushrooms are rich and earthy. They are also fairly affordable. I substitute portobello mushrooms for beef often because it creates that bold flavor and bit of chew that beef typically gives a dish. We chose to serve the burgers with a side of grilled zucchini spears. This made for a really tasty and fairly healthy meal!

Serves 6

Ingredients for Balsamic Marinade:

Olive Oil (approximately 3 tablespoons)
Balsamic Vinegar (approximately 3 tablespoons)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper

Ingredients for Portobello Caprese Burgers:

Hamburger Buns
6 Portobello Mushroom Caps whole with stem removed
6 slices of mozzarella cheese
6-12 slices of tomato (I did roma tomatoes so the burgers had two slices each, but if you use a bigger tomato then 1 slice would work.)
Fresh Basil leaves (you’ll want enough to top each burger)
Balsamic Marinade

For Grilled Zucchini Side:

5 medium sized zucchini cut into spears
Balsamic Marinade

How to Make Portobello Caprese Burgers with Grilled Zucchini Spears:

Directions for Balsamic Marinade:

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl

Directions for Portobello Caprese Burgers:

Brush the Balsamic Marinade onto each side of the clean, de-stemmed portobello mushrooms
Put on a grill, smooth side down over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until tender
While the portobello mushrooms are cooking add mozzarella to your top bun and place your buns on a toasting tray on your grill or above a cooler side of the grill to toast the buns and melt the cheese. Be careful to not burn the buns.
OPTIONAL: I chose not to use any condiments on my burger because the mushroom with the balsamic marinade was plenty moist and flavorful and I’m currently watching extra calories. However, if you’d like I’d suggest using a nice garlic aioli or a really good quality mayo on the bottom bun. Topping the burger with a balsamic glaze would also be delish!
Top your bottom bun with a few basil leaves, the portobello mushroom, slices of tomato, and a few more basil leaves. Top with the mozzarella covered bun. ENJOY!

Directions for Grilled Zucchini Spears:

Toss your raw zucchini spears in the leftover balsamic marinade. If you use all of your marinade up brushing them on the mushrooms then go ahead and make some more marinade. Also, you’re going to have some seriously tasty mushrooms! 😉
Put in a grilling basket or on top of a foil lined grill. Grill until tender, approximately 6-8 minutes. (We grilled our mushrooms and zucchini at the same time and everything was ready to go around the same time.)
Serve alongside the burger. Add an optional dipping sauce of garlic aioli for a nice flavor punch.

We served these tasty little burgers with some of the Julian Hard Cider that I shared yesterday. The portobello was especially nice with the Cherry Bomb cider!

4th of July Free Printable Food Tray

I of course had to serve up my Portobello Caprese Burgers in something fun for the holiday. I created these fun stars and striped food trays to make serving these burgers a little more festive.

Directions for Use:

Click on file and save to computer
Print on white cardstock in full color
Cut around the outside of the food tray and on the dotted lines
Fold where there are white solid lines.
Glue the tabs into the panel directly to the right of the tab you are gluing.
Once complete, line your food tray with wax paper and top with food. The heavier the weight of your card stock the more sturdy these food trays will be.

Download your Free Printable 4th of July Food Tray

Have a fantastic 4th of July holiday tomorrow! Stay safe and have fun.

A Well Crafted Pantry

Easy Weeknight Dinner with Marley Spoon

July 21, 2016 No Comments A Well Crafted Pantry

Marley Spoon offered me complimentary meals from their service to explore some easy weeknight dinner solutions. All content and opinions are my own. To learn more about my posts regarding sponsored content please visit my policies page.

I love cooking and I love putting a homemade meal on the table. However, I spend a huge chunk of time each week with meal planning, shopping, prepping, and cooking. (Note: All of this time is in addition to the time my wonderful mother-in-law puts in to prepare and cook meals throughout the week as well.) I currently work full-time and then part-time on my blog. I don’t have a ton of free time throughout the week. Which means, every moment I’m working on a meal plan or shopping for ingredients I am also not spending quality time with my kiddos or working on other necessary projects.

When Martha + Marley Spoon asked me if I’d like to try their meal service I jumped at the chance for three reasons:

I love Martha Stewart. Martha + Marley Spoon is a collection of Martha’s recipes delivered to your door with all the ingredients and six simple steps to getting dinner on the table. I often peruse Martha Stewart’s website while looking for meals for the week. Might as well have them delivered to my door.
While I enjoy planning meals for the week, I don’t really have the time every week to do 7 dinners and plan for breakfasts and lunches. Having a few of the meals off of my plate while still knowing that I will not only have all the ingredients in my house, but that it will be delicious. WIN.WIN.
I work a lot. When I get home from work I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I’m very fortunate right now to have my mother-in-law—who is a good cook in her own right— staying with us and helping with dinners most night. Even then though, I’d love for dinner prep to be as simple as possible. Having a recipe and ingredients all delivered to my door make for an easy weeknight dinner.

My Experience Creating an Easy Weeknight Dinner with Martha + Marley Spoon

I chose two family sized meals that are meant to feed two adults and two kids. The meal photographed is the chicken, rice and tomatoes meal which is no longer an option because meals change weekly, but I’m sure it’ll come back on the menu because it was super tasty!

The service offers both meals for two adults as well as a meal solution for two adults and two children. The pricing, compared to my grocery bill, makes sense for the number of meals you receive and the added bonus of not needing to do the grocery shopping or meal prep. While it won’t be a budget solution for those who are using meal planning to stretch their dollar, it is an option for someone who is time strapped.

Ingredients:

This meal came with everything needed—including coconut oil—other than salt and pepper. It also came with a whole head of garlic even though it only needed a few cloves. Nothing came prepped in the box, which while it adds a little time, preserves the overall flavor of the dish. A lot of vegetables tend to lose flavor and freshness once cut and left open to air.

Directions:

The directions were simple to follow. This dish was created in two pans, one for the rice and another for the chicken and tomatoes mixture. The whole meal, with prep, probably took around 35-40 minutes.

Size of Meal:

I was pleasantly surprised with the size of this meal. My husband, son and I enjoyed large portions and still had a little bit leftover for lunch the next day. We did add a green salad on the side because while the dish included garlic, ginger, tomatoes and cilantro there wasn’t a full on green vegetable side. I’m a bit of a stickler about having a green vegetable at every meal.

Taste:

I don’t know if there is anything better than chicken thighs that have been cooked well. Combine them with the tomatoes, ginger, garlic and rice. Well, it was one I’d happily put in my meal rotation. Kiddo finished his plate too!

Have you ever tried a meal delivery service? If so, what did you think?

Thank you Martha and Marley Spoon for sharing your services with me and A Well Crafted Party readers!

A Well Crafted Pantry

Easy Dinner Idea: Stuffed Ravioli Tossed with Spinach, Tomatoes & Pesto

June 2, 2015 1 Comment A Well Crafted Pantry

Stuffed Ravioli with Spinach, Tomato and Pesto - A Well Crafted Party

I love eating outdoors as soon as the weather calls for it. A great outdoor meal to me doesn’t always have to incorporate cooking outside (ie grilling) but, it does need to be simple and easy to transport outdoors. The below outdoor meal entree is not just INCREDIBLY simple to make and holds up to my outdoor meal criteria, but also was extremely affordable to make.

When Grocery Outlet sent me a gift card to try out some of their deals, I went in with no idea what kind of meal I was going to make. But, after just a few minutes perusing the aisles and checking out their ad I had a plan in place. I picked up all of my ingredients in one trip to Grocery Outlet and had the meal on the table in thirty minutes after getting home. Today I’m sharing the main course item that took about 10 minutes from start to finish. This entree would be perfect for an easy weeknight meal alfresco!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:3]

This post was created in collaboration with Grocery Outlet. All opinions are my own. Thank you for reading and sharing posts that are created in partnership with brands that help support this blog.Grocery Outlet operates 210+ stores in California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.Visit the Grocery Outlet website to find a store near you and sign up for notifications when their new ad comes out!