I was on the verge of a breakdown looking at these furry portabellas.
I had planned to make Grilled Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms, using shrimp, vegetables and cheese.
Honestly, my first thought of this combination was “It will be such a pretty photo for the blog.”
I didn’t consider if I would like it or if it sounded appetizing. I just knew it had to be cooked and photographed for my blog.
I flipped the mushrooms over and starting cleaning out the hairy bristles, but the mushroom on the right started to crumble before my eyes. I had a problem.
“No, mushroom! You are supposed to be perfectly hollow and ready to be stuffed, not broken and flimsy.”
Enter meltdown. Prior meltdown possibly occurred when I was talking to my food."
After declaring how the mushrooms were going to ruin my blog post, I decided to take revenge.
Take that portabellas.
Then I asked myself what I really wanted for dinner.
Answer – Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets.
Solution – bread the mushrooms with egg in an Uncle Sam crushed cereal coating and bake at 425* for 20 minutes, flipping after 10 minutes. (Uncle Sam – I don’t get the whole flaxseed? This goes against everything I’ve ever been taught. Grind the flaxseed, yo.)
Side note about my blog photo ridiculousness – I’m really particular about my mushrooms. They either have to be really good and cooked down or raw. In between is not good for me, so there is no possible way I would’ve liked the Grilled Stuff Portabella Mushrooms.
Portabella Mushroom Strips & Vegetable + Shrimp Pesto Pasta Salad
I decided to add on a random pasta salad just in case my strips didn’t work out. Turns out there was no need, but the added vegetables were a plus.
In the Mix – Zucchini, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Elbow Whole Wheat Noodles, Pesto, Feta, Shrimp.
And the star of the show…
I think if I wouldn’t have been whining to Nick all night about the portabella mushrooms, he would have never guessed this wasn’t chicken. It doesn’t taste like chicken, but the texture is similar, the “meat” is white, and the mushroom taste was not prevalent what so ever. I was amazed.
Please go try and fool someone into thinking these are chicken strips and report back. Over and out.
Whisk Her Away 
a) awesome idea! i love it. way to be creative in the kitchen, sister!
b) i like the whole flax seed! then again, i think i am in a big “seed phase” right now.
c) adding this to my “must try” folder 🙂
those look really interesting! I used to be a mushroom-hater (except for when they were breaded and fried)…but I’ve been slowly warming up to them. I may have to try these out!
I don’t understand Uncle Sam cereal in general. It tastes terrible, and whole flax seeds don’t give you the benefits of ground. I’ll have to use the rest of my box as breading!