How can you resist that picture? A meaty portobello is baked with a balsamic glaze. That base is then topped with avocados, scallions, chives, and cheese. Oh, some dill, too. This is a dish with substance and tang. And multiple shades of green.
It can be tough during the workweek to craft a distinctive meal. The prep time here is only about 5 minutes. While the mushroom is cooking, you can sip some wine and make the avocado salad. There's little mess but lots of taste.
This recipe comes from Gaby Dalkin’s Absolutely Avocado. Here’s my review of this precise little book. Absolutely Avocado features 80 recipes for using avocados in exciting, vibrant ways. Yes, there is avocado life far beyond guacamole.
Not that I have anything against guacamole.
Balsamic Portobello Topped with Herbed Avocado Salad
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 4 portobello mushroom caps
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 Hass avocados
- ¾ cup thinly sliced scallions
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh chives
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
- Juice of ½ lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Bring the vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook until the vinegar has reduced by half, 3 to 5 minutes.
Arrange the portobello mushrooms on a parchment-lined baking sheet, top side down. Drizzle the mushrooms with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the mushrooms are tender. Drizzle the mushrooms with the reduced balsamic vinegar and bake for another 10 minutes.
While the mushrooms are baking, cut each avocado in half lengthwise. Remove the pit from the avocado and discard. Remove the avocado skin, and cut each half into large dice. Transfer the avocado to a mixing bowl. Mix in the scallions, feta, chives, dill, and lemon juice. Carefully toss to mix.
Season with salt and pepper as needed.
Top the mushrooms with equal amounts of the herbed avocado and serve immediately.
Source: Absolutely Avocado by Gaby Dalkin [Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013]