Tonight I decided to be a little adventurous. All it took was seeing a 3-pack of portobello mushrooms on market’s weekly special list to start me thinking. I knew tonight was likely “pizza night” for the rest of the clan, and I’d thought about my own meatza or something. But, I also had pineapple and bacon in the fridge which had me thinking about more creative pizza toppings.

I decided to make a bacon/pineapple topped roasted portobello with a balsamic reduction drizzled over the top. I knew immediately that this will be in our summer grilling line up because it is soooo delicious & I imagine what grilled pineapple would be like on this little masterpiece.

I started with no earthly idea how to properly roast a portobello. I used the Nom Nom Paleo instructions as a base formula. I had made bacon in the oven as the first step. I decided that, in this case, my “favorite fat” would be the rendered bacon fat. There was enough to brush over the entirety of the three mushrooms. I sprinkled the caps with salt and then put them in the 400 degree oven, rounded part up, for 10 minutes. [I had the rounded part up as I planned to fill the mushrooms with goodies for the second half of their roasting.] In the meantime, I started a small amount of balsamic vinegar in a stainless saucepan over medium heat–looking for that syrupy goodness to emerge!

When the ten minutes elapsed, I pulled the pan from the oven. I turned the caps over, filled them with pineapple and topped the pineapple with bacon. I put them back into the oven for around 6 minutes. Once they looked properly awesome, I removed the pan from the oven, drizzled over the balsamic reduction [I think that could have gone a few more minutes if I could have waited!] and sat down to eat.

To say this was tasty would be an understatement. I can’t honestly say that I remember the last time I ate a portobello. I’m sure I have, but it was likely covered in cheese or something that didn’t really let the meatiness of the mushroom stand on its own.

I mean LOOK at that mushroom! When I showed it to my meat loving man [who missed this meal by working late], he said, “That looks like a slice of steak.” I had to agree. And, frankly, it was just as satisfying. I had three reasonably sized caps [one kind of large & the other two on the smallish size] and enjoyed every last bite.

This makes me wonder what other flavors I could use to top a good roasted portobello…

My friends who are Whole 30-ing with me are still going strong too. We’re thinking of extending our 30 into more days because it’s been a pretty easy switch for us so far this month. I’m all for the extension because I’d like to keep going and then have my blood run through its paces. I’d like to see if any changes have come about since my last comprehensive health screening in early September.

My daughter’s basketball team plays what might be their final game tomorrow and has a pizza party after–I will need to be strong, but I’m not all that worried, actually. I will just plan ahead.