Bike Ride Daydreams: Mushroom Burger

At about mile 60 of my ride today, deep in the Santa Monica Mountains, I started thinking about food. I still had at least 25 more miles to ride, but food daydreams were already starting to dominate my thoughts. Burgers? Yes. Pizza? From Milo and Olive? Or maybe I should stop at Sweet Lady Jane for a sea salt caramel brownie.

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Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this? 

 

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I ended up pulling over and reaching into my pockets for my headphones and a Gather bar. I ate the bar, powered up the my new Dwight Yoakam download, and took off up Old Topanga Road.  I did my best to turn my focus to my power meter and not my junk food cravings. 

 By the time I got home (I went straight home and didn't stop for the brownie), the bar had satisfied my hunger and I was able to cruise through my five mile transition run. But I still thought I deserved a feast. 

Here's what I made: 

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That's a portobello mushroom burger, because honestly I don't know how to cook a good hamburger! It was just as satisfying and really it was all about the fixins.

Here's what I did: 

I baked the mushrooms following this real simple recipe. They were fine, but next time I'll marinate them while I'm riding (anyone have a good marinade?) and grill them. In the last few minutes of cooking, I topped each mushroom with a few slices of Emmentaler cheese.

While the mushrooms were cooking, I sliced an onion and a red pepper into thick rings and grilled them in a stovetop grill pan with some olive oil.

Next, smashed a quarter of an avocado on a toasted brioche bun. Then, I piled on the the cheesy "burger", the onions, peppers, a few dill pickle slices, and Steve's Paleo ketchup on a toasted brioche bun. 

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Served along with a cold hefewezen and oven-baked sweet potato fries, this healthy burger felt like the treat I earned after a six hour training day.  --Laurel

One more thing:  if you want to replicate this burger yourself, here's a shopping list:  

portobello mushroom tops

emmentaler cheese

1 sweet onion

1 red or orange pepper

brioche buns

avocado

dill pickles

spicy ketchup, like Steve's

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