"No, Its Not Freaking Stove Top!"

Ryan:    "Did you use Stove Top?"
Me:        "What?"
Ryan:     "Did you use Stove-Top?"
Me:        "As in Stove-Top Stuffing?"
Ryan:    "Yeah"
Me:        "No, it's not freakin Stove-Top!!"
Ryan:    "Because it actually tastes really good!"

My husband thought he was hilarious.  Cooking for a meat & potatoes crowd after you have made the wise decision to not fill your temple with lard and life-threatening disease is not always easy.  And my husband is a pretty tough critic.  Unfortunately for me, even when I was a meat & potatoes girl, we still had vastly different ideas of what good food was, making cooking for my partner-in-crime extremely difficult at times.  However, he devoured last night's dinner and I couldn't be happier. 

'Sausage' Stuffed Portobellos w/ Balsamic Glaze
Serves 8

3 slices whole grain bread
2 tbsp oil for medium-high heat cooking
1 package Gimmee Lean Sausage Style
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced (or shredded)
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 tbsp parsley1 tbsp thyme
1/2 tbsp oregano
1/4 c Nutritional Yeast
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
Egg replacer for 2 eggs: (3tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 2 Tbsp water)
8 Portobello Mushroom Caps, stemmed and gills carefully scraped out
3/4 c Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp organic sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Toast the bread until it is all crispy.  Set aside to cool/dry for a few minutes.

Heat oil in skillet on medium heat.  Add sausage, onion, garlic, carrots, pepper, celery, parsley, thyme and oregano.  Saute until sausage is browned and veggies are soft.  Remove from heat.

Put toast in food processor fitted with S-blade to make beadcrumbs.  Add sausage mix, nutritional yeast, 1 tbsp olive oil and egg replacers.  Pulse 3-4 times until just mixed.  Do not pulverize.  We are not making baby food.    Set aside.

Using your hands, rub the remaining olive oil over the mushrooms.  Fill with the sausage mix, mounding it high.  Throw it in the oven for about 12-15 minutes. 

While your mushrooms are cooking, heat the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a saucepan on medium-high heat.  Stir frequently for about 10-12 minutes until sauce reduces by 1/2.

When your mushrooms are done, drizzle with a little bit of balsamic glaze and serve.