Portobello Mushroom Burgers

Claire Wright

Featuring:

Mushrooms

Effort:

Complexity:

Cost:

In season now

Serves: 1 (or as many as you like - just adjust as needed)

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

olive oil

finely sliced garlic

salt & pepper

mixed dried herbs

Per person:

1 Portobello (or large field) mushroom

1 wholemeal burger bun

Your favourite burger additions: avocado, torn crispy lettuce, sliced ripe tomatoes, pickles, condiments, hummus, crispy halloumi, crispy bacon, sliced Cheddar cheese...

Veg Portions / Serving: 1

Mighty, meaty mushrooms can be used in so many different ways! Claire Wright from addsomeveg.com shares 3 of the most simple ways, like these super simple Portobello mushroom burgers.

Method:

Toss the mushrooms in some olive oil, sliced garlic, salt & pepper and mixed dried herbs to coat. Set aside while you get a grill, griddle pan or BBQ going on high heat. Grill the mushrooms on both sides for about 5-7 mins, until softened, cooked through and darkened in colour. Assemble your burger buns with your favourite toppings, using the grilled mushrooms as your “burger”. (Particularly nice with grilled or BBQ’d courgettes, aubergines and/or peppers, rocket leaves and hummus!)

Engaging Kids

Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.

Kids in the kitchen

Let them kids toss the mushrooms in the oil, garlic and herbs. Then set them in charge of assembly of the burgers – laying out lots of toppings (try and offer mostly healthy, veg toppings for them to choose from) so they can build them themselves.

Activities

While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.

Sensory

Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.

Serving

The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.

Claire Wright

Editor: After leaving Exeter University with a degree in English Literature, Claire worked in various fields ranging from youth work and charities to publishing, before starting up a food-focused website when her first child was born. After being asked to project manage the publication of Veg Power's Crowdfunder book, Claire came on board as a fully-fledged team member in 2018 to take on the role of Communications Manager, then Editor, looking after Veg Power's website, content, recipes and social media platforms.

addsomeveg.com/

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