Barbecued Portobello Sandwiches

Merry New Year to you all! I hope your holidays were great! Mine were really fun...a little too much fun, but that's what the holidays are about, right? Well, now that we're over a week into 2012 I'm going to attempt to stick to one of my resolutions which is to write more blog entries. This one is a recipe for a really tasty and filling sandwich. I adapted it from veggiegrettie.com's guest blogger spot, "Cooking with Sirica". It kind of reminds me of the BBQ "chicken" sandwich from Rhea's Deli here in SF, but with mushrooms instead of mock chicken. Pretty, pretty good.

SANDWICH INGREDIENTS - Serves 2-3

2 portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 cup crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 TBS olive oil
½ - ¾ cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I use Amy’s Sweet and Spicy BBQ sauce, and some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.*)
2-3 sandwich rolls (I used crunchy Bánh mì-style ones.)

COLESLAW

3 cups green cabbage shredded
1 cup red cabbage shredded
½ cup carrot shredded
1 TBS red onion diced (I just used the other half of the red onion from the sandwiches, so more than a TBS.)
1 TBS red bell pepper diced (Optional. I didn't have any.)
½ cup (or less) Vegenaise
½ tsp. of dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
1-2 TBS umeboshi vinegar* or light vinaigrette dressing
½ tsp brown rice syrup or sweetener of choice
Salt & pepper to taste

Sauté onion and mushrooms in olive oil on medium for 10 minutes till tender. Pour out any excess moisture/water from pan before adding BBQ sauce.

Add sauce and simmer for another 10-15 minutes until thick. Be careful to add the sauce slowly, you can always add more later.

While mushroom onion mixture is simmering, prepare coleslaw. Combine Vegenaise, mustard, lemon juice and vinegar or dressing, adjust according to your liking. Toss dressing with cabbage, carrot, onion and bell pepper.

Toast buns under broiler for a minute or two til they get a little crispy.

Assemble sandwich on plate with a good serving of mushroom mixture on bun topped with coleslaw. Serve with more coleslaw on the side with a few pickle slices if you got 'em.

Dig in!!

*Adobo pepers in chipotle sauce are effin' HOT! And this is coming from someone who looooves super-hot stuff. I used about half of the small can and ended up having to take them out mid-meal. An alternative that I like is cutting a few slices of fresh jalapenos and adding those to the sandwich during assembly, but to each their own. 

Ha-hahahahaaaa!