Grilled Portabella Layered Nann

dinner last night was one of those wonderous miracles that come together quickly and effortlessly yet taste so good it's deemed company-worthy.

(molly was my kitchen supervisor - she did an excellent job:)

the idea came to me tuesday when i invited my momma over for dinner for thursday evening because my dad is away. she is so good about having me and the schmoops over for dinner when E is traveling for work so i wanted to return the favor. one of her favorite foods is portabella mushrooms.

i have recently tried trader joe's garlic naan and it was so garlicky and tasty that i thought my garlic-lovin mom would love it. put the two together and my dinner inspiration began to form.

(not our actual drinks - but they look just as good - picture courtesy of communities.canada.com)

we started out with mint jeulps in the spirit of the derby this weekend and just because you can never go wrong with whisky. (plus, my mint garden in thriving! i have a wonderful herb garden but i also have a seperate mint garden because it's so invasive and just takes over. it gets a garden all to itself where it can be free to roam and spread)

while we sipped our jeulps, i started the chimney on the grill. seriously, the only cooking required in the meal is grilling the mushrooms (4 minutes per side) and the garlic naan (1-2 minutes per side).

i did marinate the protabellas in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar before grilling. it ends up being kind of a deconstructed pizza if you will. we spread goat cheese (or any kind of cheese for that matter) on the naan, then layered the grilled portabellas and sliced heirloom tomatoes. at the last minute, E had a wonderful suggestion - throw in some extra crispy bacon that i had cooked eariler. wow, E is officially a genious! we all agreeed that the bacon made this dish! just a slice and a half per person was all it needed to add some great crunch and flavor. have i mentioned i love bacon?

the finished product!

i have received some feedback that i don't always give the recipes. i tend to just throw things together and don't see the need for a recipe. i do, however, recognize some need the structure of recipes. some people get very nervous without specific instructions and sentences like "add salt and pepper to taste" or "add a little chicken broth to thin sauce". for those of you out there, here is the recipe. but, don't be afraid to get creative, you could layer anything on naan really. just like pizza - throw your favorite toppings on and enjoy!

---

Grilled Portabella Layered Naan
serves 4

4 large portabella mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 large heirloon tomatoes
6 slices cooked bacon
4 tbs goat cheese (shredded parm or mozzerella works here too if you are crazy and have an aversion to goat cheese)
4 pieces of garlic naan (prepared pizza crust works if you can't find naan)

combine olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a large ziploc bag or baking dish. add mushrooms and let sit for at least 30 minutes, turning often.

meanwhile, prepare grill to medium-high heat.

grill mushrooms 4 minutes of each side.

meanwhile, slice tomatoes.

grill naan 1-2 minutes per side just before serving.

to assemble, spread 1 tbs cheese on each piece on naan. layer bacon, then mushrooms, then tomatoes.

---

one final note. after assembly, we all kind of looked at each other and said, "how do we eat this thing?" we each tried a different method and they all worked well. E, folded his in half and ate it like a taco, i cut mine into smaller pieces and ate it like pieces of pizza, and mom cut hers all into bite-sized pieces and ate it with a fork. all successful in their own way!

 for dessert, we had a slice of angel food cake with sliced strawberries on top. pure heaven!