Even Better Than the Real Thing

The city of Philadelphia is known for a few things, Rocky, the Liberty Bell, the Fresh Prince, and Cheesesteaks (Philly readers, I know that there are more things that your fair city is known for, however for the sake of keeping my list short I only mentioned a few items).  As this is a blog regarding food, guess which one I want to discuss?

I am a huge fan of the cheesteak.  A few years ago, the husband and I had a layover in the Philadelphia airport and I insisted upon getting a cheesesteak from one of the airport fast food restaurants.  While not necessarily authentic, it was still good stuff and not needed after a weekend of drinking high calorie adult beverages and eating fatty foods.  

Cheesesteaks are great sandwiches.  They are steak and ooey, gooey melted cheese with peppers and onions.  That said, that combination is not exactly diet friendly, at least the first two ingredients are not diet friendly.  I was pretty excited when I came across a recipe for a cheesesteak in the Eating Well cookbook that I borrowed from Wixon. 

Hmm, a cheesesteak from Eating Well, what is the catch?  Would it be fake cheese, tofu standing in for the steak?  Nope, the trick was using portobello mushrooms in the place of steak.  Portobello make for a great steak substitute as they taste meaty, and I mean meaty in a good way.

These sandwiches were a snap to make.  The broth and the soy sauce gave them a nice flavor and the melted provolone cheese gave them the right amount of salt. 

Portobello "Philly Cheesesteak" Sandwich
(adapted from Eating Well)
Printable Recipe

4 whole wheat-buns, split in half
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
5 large portobello mushroom tops, stems and gills removed
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup chicken broth (vegetarians use vegetable broth)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 deli slices of provolone cheese, cut into bite-size pieces

1. Toast the buns in a toaster oven.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add mushrooms, bell pepper, oregano and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are wilted and soft, about 7 minutes.  Reduce heat to low; sprinkle the vegetables with flour and stir to coat.  Stir in broth and soy sauce.  Remove from the heat and stir in the pieces of provolone cheese.   Divide the mixture into 4 portions and place on buns.  

Yield: 4 servings