I love meat, especially red meat.  However, I try not to eat it very often.  We might indulge once or twice a week but try to stick to poultry or fish for most of our meals.

Recently, my cousin’s wife, Tami, told me that in her house they do Meatless Mondays.  I was intrigued by this idea and thought it might be fun to challenge myself to make a tasty, filling meal for my family that didn’t contain any meat.  Given how much Mike loves meat, this could be interesting.  So, I got to thinking, what could I make that would satisfy the boys in my life and leave them full for the rest of the night?

I’ve always loved to use mushrooms in my recipes or as appetizers, but I had never used them as the main ingredient for the meal.  Just last week, Mike and I were watching a cooking show (yes, I do force the poor guy to watch them with me sometimes :)) and they were working with Portobello mushrooms like they were a steak.  This caught my eye given how much I love a good cut of red meat.  I was amazed by the look and texture of the mushroom once it was prepared.  I had to try it, and Mike actually seemed as though he’d give it a taste if I ever made it.  So once my first attempt at Meatless Monday came around, I knew what was going to be on the menu.

With T.J. in tow, we headed towards the grocery store to track down our ingredients.  I had in my head that some type of red sauce, spinach, and cheese would go along well with it.  Since we are counting calories right now, I was conscientious of this as I picked out my ingredients.  It is truly amazing how much food you can have when your meal doesn’t include meat.  From the ingredients I picked up at the grocery store, Fire Roasted Portobello Mushrooms were born.  Coming in at only 113 calories, this main dish was filling and delicious.  It was hard to believe it was only 113 calories.  Give Meatless Mondays a try in your house.  You’ll be surprised how full you can feel after a meal with minimal calories and what great flavors you can obtain without having to use meat.

I made Steak Fries to go on the side for an additional 117 calories.  They were delicious and a perfect compliment to this main dish.

Here’s what you’ll need on your grocery list:

**This recipe makes enough to serve 4 people**

4 Large Portabello Mushrooms – Hy-Vee is a great place to go for this.  They sell them in packages of 2.

1/2 tsp Olive Oil

2 tbsp Lemon Juice

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

2 cups Spinach

1 cup Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes

1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella/Parmesan Blend Cheese – you can always just use Mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a baking pan with cooking spray.

In a small mixing bowl, combine oil, lemon juice, and soy sauce.  Using a brush, coat all sides of each mushroom with mixture until all is used.  Place each mushroom cap-side down on the baking pan.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Remove mushrooms from oven and flip over.  Put 1/2 cup of spinach on each mushroom (cap-side).

Top spinach on each mushroom with 1/4 cup diced tomatoes, and then finish off by dividing cheese evenly over each mushroom.

Bake for another 8-10 minutes.

These made a very good main dish.  Mike and I both liked them, but T.J. wasn’t a big fan.  I would think that kids would really have to like mushrooms to eat these.  I also think this recipe would be great as a side.  Just cut the mushrooms in half and serve with chicken breast.

Until next time…