Comfort Food for the Soul & Subsequent Burger Night

Dinner lately has been composed of rather spicy or ethnic elements, resulting in a familial need to have a simple roast, veggie, and starch meal.  The result of this need was a roast chicken whose skin turned out not nearly crispy enough for having been in the oven as long as it was, steamed and seasoned broccoli which I consumed like a beast, and homemade macaroni and cheese of which I did not partake any.  Instead, my starchy goodness was a lovely bowl of BR.  Sometimes you just have to give a little bit of a whole grain ethnic flair to such a toned-down dinner.  So if you are ever looking for something to soothe the pallet and soul after nights of feasting on firey cuisine or some sort of emotional trauma, rely on these old standards: oven-roasted chicken with some root veggies for extra comfort, steamed veggies of a greener variety to keep in all the deliciousness ad healthfulness, and a big ceramic bowl of bread crumb-topped, cheddary, oven-baked man'n'cheese.  We also had a delcious oven-roasted tomato basil salad on the side with a drizzle of quality olive oil right before serving. Need I say more?

 

The next night, of course, I was craving something with a bit more zing to it, and my parents wanted burgers on the grill.  I was up for grilling, so dad got me a couple portobella  mushrooms which he seasoned and grilled up.  They were standardly seasoned with chopped garlic, herbes de provence, salt, pepper, and olive oil.  The mushrooms were SO meaty and substantial that I really managed to make quite a dinner out of it.  I ate it on a nice, thin whole wheat bun and with a roasted poblano chili on top!  The chili had the right amount of spice for me, and I unorthodoxically added sliced tomato on top of that and dipped the whole spicy, earthy, scrumptious beast into a dollop of Boars Head delicatessen-style mustard and bit down.  Man, was that a quality meal!  I can't begin to describe the intense interplay of the earthy mushroom, the whole grain bread, the rather spicy and smoky roasted poblano (as far as poblanos go), and the juicy tomato.  The flavors were all unique and intense, and the portobella actually held up to grilling as long as the burgers did and could have even taken more of a beating.  So the next time you're craving something vegetarian but smoky, dine as I did on a grilled portobella with a nice roasted poblano on it.  Also, grill a red onion for a bit of a sweetness as a snack after the meal, and use the kale-mushroom sautee about which I have posted in the past.  That is the green that accompanies this meal, and the earthy crimini mushrooms of that and the sweet sauteed onion play along well with the whole scrumptious fusion portoburger I described in tantalizing detail already.  Just eat it!

  

This pic was taken before everything was fully assembled...I was hungry and in need of feed.