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We are so not vegetarians at imafoodblog. I love meat and could not imagine a life without it. That said, sometimes I just don’t feel like meat. Sometimes I want something fresh and light and meatless.

Oh vegetarians, don’t get too excited. This only lasts for a meal or two, then I go back to my animal eating instincts.

So I got this urge a week or so ago after seeing a post by one of our very first blogger friends, Sippity Sup. He was doing a week of burgers, and when I read this I thought to myself, “wow, he is going to be eating a lot of meat". But true to his ingenious form, he comes out with a delicious looking and sounding vegetarian burger that piqued my interest right away. Our picture doesn’t do this burger justice, but his does (of course), so check out his post to get your mouth watering for this.

His burger was a slow roasted portobello mushroom, smothered in mozzarella cheese, topped with roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, tomatoes, and basil, on a good quality Kaiser roll.

I made a few slight changes based on our preferences, and I also served these on some freshly baked homemade sandwich rolls. Perfection!

My slightly adapted recipe is after the jump. Whether you make it Greg’s way or my way - or your own way - you should pencil this in for a lunch or dinner very soon.

Follow up:

Portobello Burgers with Mozzarella Cheese and Roasted Red Peppers
Original by Greg at Sippity Sup, slighty adapted by Sara at Imafoodblog.com
Serves 2

• 2 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed, caps left whole
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese or more, your preference
• 10 whole basil leaves
• 2 whole roasted red bell pepper, cut in strips (from a jar is fine)
• 2 very good Kaiser rolls cut in half or homemade rolls

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In an oven proof baking pan or rimmed baking sheet, toss mushrooms with olive oil, water, and red wine vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Arrange the mushrooms stem side down; cover loosely with foil. Roast until tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
3. When the mushrooms are ready remove the top layer of foil and turn each cap over so that the ribs are facing up. Carefully drain off any of the accumulated liquid. Fill each cap with some of the grated cheese. Set the caps under a broiler until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown.
4. Meanwhile toast your rolls.
5. Lay the toasted rolls out on plates. Cover the tops of each roll with 4-5 whole basil leaves. Top the basil with a mushroom cap. On the other side of the roll layer the red bell pepper. Invert the top onto the bottom of the burger. Cut in half and enjoy with some chips and a pickle.