Recipe of the Week: PORTOBELLO BURGERS

Brought to you by The Best Years in Life Healthy Recipes

Head to the Vegetable Aisle for a Flawless Cookout

As grills fire up across the country for football tailgates, try serving meaty portobello mushrooms as a replacement for your usual fare. In addition to cutting out saturated fat, by enjoying portobellos in place of traditional burgers you may help reduce your cancer risk, as research now shows a convincing link between excess red meat consumption and colorectal cancer. Mushrooms are also a good source of the mineral selenium, which may protect against cancer by promoting DNA repair.

Portobello Burgers

4 large portobello mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, sliced into very thin slivers
1 tsp. fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp. dried
1 tsp. fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. balsamic or red wine vinegar
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 beefsteak tomato, sliced
4 large lettuce leaves
4 whole-wheat buns

Preheat grill (or broiler). Wipe mushrooms with damp cloth. Remove stems. With paring knife, make slits in tops of caps. Stuff slivers of garlic and herbs into slits.

In small bowl whisk together oil and vinegar with sea salt and pepper to taste. Brush mushrooms with oil mixture.

Place mushrooms, cap-side down, on pan and broil or grill until soft and brown, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.

Serve with lettuce and tomato on toasted whole-grain buns.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 200 calories, 7 g total fat (1 g saturated fat), 29 g carbohydrate, 6 g protein, 5 g dietary fiber, 290 mg sodium.