Spinach & Goat Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I was really tired and almost to the point of suggesting take-out, but I had to pick up some prescriptions, so off to the grocery store I went (I use my in-store grocery pharmacy).   While I was waiting for my prescriptions, I started to peruse the produce section.  I was pretty sure I was going the bagged salad route – a 5 minute, add some grilled chicken, call it a day meal.   However, a large display of portobello mushrooms caught my eye (on sale of course) and I decided I would cook.  Even the most tired of people could not have turned up these beauties.  I turned around and spinach was buy-one-get-one and the meal began to take shape.  I grabbed a tomato and headed to the cheese section.  To my luck, my a log of my favorite brand of goat cheese was about to go out of code and was therefore 50% off.  (This is a good shopping tip – when produce, meat or other perishable products get close to their sell-by date, many stores will discount the item.  As long as you use the food that night, there is nothing wrong and you usually get a great deal.)

So I headed home with my prescirption, portobellos, spinach, a tomato and a small log of herb goat cheese.  I knew the general dish I was going for, but wanted to see if there were any special ways to jazz up a simple mushroom.  I found a great marinade on epicurious.com (this should be your culinary internet go-to, after the blog of course:)  and allowed the whole portobellos to sit in a great blend of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy, marsala wine and some herbs and spices.  The original recipe called for a 4 hour marinating time, but since I was originally thinking take-out, that simply wasn’t happening.  I got the mushrooms soaking as soon as I got home, but by the time dinner rolled around they couldn’t have been marinating more than a hour and they turned our great.  Portobellos are easy to marinate because you can use their cap shape to your advantage.  When the marinade is poured over the mushrooms, a large amount collects in their cap and is allowed to soak.  Portobellos on their own are always great, but the addition of a couple of key flavors really helps to make this a WOW dish. (more…)