GCH: What’s on Your Plate? — Grass-Fed Burger on Marinated Portobello’s

 

This version of the All-American Burger satisfies our craving for participation in the Sunday Barbecue while honoring our desire to abstain from ingesting gluten.  Just put the Portobello in a Zip-Lock bag or some other container to marinate while the festivities are proceeding.  They will be ready to throw on the grill with the burgers when everyone else is warming their traditional buns.

One note of caution; if you don’t know what condiments are being served by your host be sure to take your own.  Common condiments like Barbecue sauces, mayonnaise, thousand island dressing ketchup and even prepared mustard’s can contain gluten.  Unless you want to be the “Label Police” at your friend’s house, just choose to take your gluten-free condiments with you.

Gracious Guest/ Party Suggestion: I like to make a gift basket with the Gluten Free Condiments as a hostess gift.  This way, you are saying thank you to your host as well as making sure you have the gluten-free dining experience you desire.

It is important that you do your homework on what products truly are gluten-free.  There are some great Apps that help with this as well as the Gluten Free Society website www.glutenfreesociety.com, which is loaded with information on maintaining a gluten-free lifestyle.  This site is my go-to site, as different people have different needs when it comes to gluten.  There are many great choices for information available.  These are just some suggestions.

I am a proponent of complete gluten avoidance, but others may choose to simply remove the main sources such as wheat, barley, and rye.  This is a great place to start, but if you are truly gluten sensitive, a complete elimination is required to protect your health.  If you aren’t sure where you are on this spectrum, get tested.  I will have more information on testing in upcoming posts.  For now, I believe we can all benefit from the elimination of gluten from our diet in order to heal our bodies and our digestive systems.  Our body has been suffering the consequences of the gluten assault we have been perpetrating on ourselves over our entire lifetimes.  I guarantee you will feel so much better in such a short time, you won’t want to go back.

Funny thing, anyone will eat your gluten-free options.  No need to make a fuss over it.  In my opinion, this is a great example of how taking care of ourselves and our own health brings the gift of health and happiness to others in previously unimagined ways.

Make your gift Organic and Gluten-free and you have doubled the value.  Enjoy.

 

Ingredients:

This recipe serves 2 but you can multiply as needed.

1 pound Grass-Fed Organic Ground Beef, Turkey, Lamb, Venison, Bison, Buffalo, Elk etc…you get the idea (Vegetarian Option: Veggie Burger that is confirmed Gluten Free)***

4 – 4-6″ diameter Portobello mushrooms Pull out the stem of the mushrooms, then gently scrape out the gills with a spoon leaving just the firm flesh of the caps to be marinated.

 

Basic Marinade:

2-3 Tbsp Organic Expeller Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1-2 Tbsp Organic Balsamic Vinegar (Modello, Italy)

1-2 Cloves Organic Garlic Crushed and allowed to sit for 5 minutes

1-2 Tsp Organic Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (from a real lemon)

1/2 Tsp Real Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt (to taste)

Ground Black Pepper to taste

Other spices can be added to this basic marinade to accommodate your tastes.  You can make it Italian, Mexican, Indian or any flavor at all.  The options are endless.  Spices add to the ORAC value of this burger “bun”.  Especially good is Turmeric.  But, be creative and make it your own.  Just NO MSG please!

Mix all the marinade ingredients together or just add them to the Zip-Lock bag as you go.  I never measure my marinade ingredients.  Just dump it all in the bag.  After you have added all the ingredients for the marinade, zip the bag shut and squish it around to mix.

You can make the marinade ahead of time and keep it on the counter or in the refrigerator.  It will just get better as it sits.

When you are about an hour from cooking, add the mushrooms to the bag to marinate.  The mushrooms will soak up the liquid so be sure they are thoroughly coated with the mixture right away.  You may even want to agitate the bag periodically to make sure the marinade is evenly distributed.

Note: I do not recommend soaking the mushrooms more than an hour as they will tend to get soggy and no one likes a soggy “bun”.

 

Burgers:

I like to mix spices into my burger.  You can be creative on this, as well.  Maybe some garlic and diced onion, Cajun seasoning, Italian Seasoning, anything you like will be fine.  Even leaving them plain works.  You can always add salt and pepper or other flavors later.

I make my burgers about 8 oz. raw.  They will be about 6 oz. cooked that way.  This depends, of course, on the variety of burger you use.  Grass-Fed beef tends to be more lean than regular hamburger.  Other meats will behave differently of course.

Cooking:

You can barbecue the mushrooms on the indirect heat portion of the grill right along with the burgers.  Make sure you turn them with tongs so that you don’t poke holes in them.  Same goes for the burgers.  Poking holes with a fork allows the juices to drip out.  Not my idea of a juicy burger.

Burgers and mushrooms should be cooked to medium rare status in about 4-5 minutes per side.  Over cooking the mushrooms will result in floppy “buns”.  Over cooking the burger will result in destruction of vitamins and beneficial enzymes, not to mention taste.  But, burger done-ness is a personal choice.

It is also fine to broil the burgers and the mushrooms if the weather is not of the barbecue variety.

 

Condiments as desired:

Romaine Lettuce Leaves

Sliced Tomato

Bubbie’s or Homemade Dill Pickle Slices

Organic Avocado

Sliced Red Onion

Organic Pastures Raw Milk Cheddar Cheese

These are my favorites burger additions.  But, feel free to experiment.

 

Some ideas:

You could toss some sliced Anaheim Chilies, Red Bell Peppers or even Sliced Summer Squash, egg-plant, or other grill-able vegetables into the bag of marinade with the mushrooms and throw those on the grill along with the “Buns” and burgers.  Then add to the burger stack.  The possibilities are endless.

***Note on the Veggie Burger option:

ALL GRAINS CONTAIN GLUTEN!!! If you want to eliminate gluten from your diet completely, and want to have a Veggie Burger you must make absolutely certain you choose an option that is made from beans and legumes.  I am not familiar with all the brands available currently.  Read the label and do your homework.  I do not eat Soy, Beans or legumes myself so I am not a good resource for these options.  The website I have listed for Gluten Free Society is a great resource for this type of information.

Enjoy!

Renee Porter Sullivan, CHt