Meatless Monday with Balsamic Portobello Burgers with Bell Peppers and Goat Cheese served with Zucchini Fries

Hello and welcome (back) for another edition of our Meatless Monday recipe share on this fine Canada Day. Miratel supports Meatless Monday as it encourages eliminating meat from your diet one day per week to preserve the health of our planet (and ourselves!). We consider our support of this great movement part of our CSR business strategies as it spreads awareness of the impact of our food choices on our environment.

It might seem daunting to think of meat-free meals to make to celebrate special summer days like Canada Day, but we’re helping to take the guesswork out of it by sharing these amazing recipes. On our menu today are Balsamic Portobello Burgers with Bell Peppers and Goat Cheese that come from the great Martha Stewart. Alongside this delicious burger, we are serving zucchini fries from the Health website.

Balsamic Portobello Burgers with Bell Peppers and Goat Cheese Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for grates
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), cut into 4 equal pieces
• 8 portobello mushrooms (about 1 pound total), stems removed
• 4 hamburger buns
• 5 ounces fresh goat cheese, cut into 4 equal slices
• 4 lettuce leaves

Directions:

1. In a shallow dish, whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add bell pepper and mushrooms; toss gently to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes (or refrigerate, up to overnight).
2. Heat grill to medium; lightly oil grates. Grill bell pepper, skin side down, until blackened, about 10 minutes; remove from grill. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin; set bell pepper aside. Grill mushrooms, covered, until lightly charred and tender, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
3. Dividing evenly, top bottom half of each bun with bell pepper, mushrooms, goat cheese, and lettuce. Close burgers, and serve immediately.

Zucchini Fries Ingredients (makes about 32 fries)

• 2 zucchini
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• Vegetable cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Cut zucchini into 3-inch sticks. Whisk an egg white in a small bowl, and add milk. Combine Parmesan and seasoned breadcrumbs in a separate bowl. Dip zucchini sticks into egg mixture, and then roll in breadcrumb mixture. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, and place zucchini on sheet. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until golden brown.

If barbecue is not your thing, you can cook the portobello mushrooms and bell peppers on your grill pan or even just a regular frying pan on your stove-top. To complete this fine meal, serve with a green salad tossed in a vinaigrette dressing.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work and promote CSR business initiatives to make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener.

Happy Canada Day!

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.