Recipe Review: Mushroom Melts

Originally posted by Liv Dansky on eatingwell.com, mushroom melts are an easy to make and personalize vegetarian meal that serves four.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped shallot
• 1 (8-ounce) package cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 8 thin slices rye bread
• 4 (1-ounce) slices Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

When making my mushroom melts, I opted to make a few changes due to limited access to ingredients. I used oat bread rather than rye and only Swiss instead of Swiss and Gruyère. I also operated to half the resize rather than make the full four sandwich serving.
To start, heat your oil over medium-high heat. Then, add shallots and cook for about three minutes. When the shallot is softened, add thyme and mushrooms, cooking for about 10 minutes until the mushrooms are softened. Add balsamic vinegar and cook for two minutes until the vinegar has mostly evaporated.

After the mushroom mixture is prepared, the sandwich is ready to be assembled. Butter one side of each slide of bread, then place your cheese and mushroom mixture on the unbuttered side. Cook for about two to three minutes per side in a skillet, or use a panini press to avoid flipping the sandwich altogether.

I chose to cook my sandwich in a panini press rather than a skillet. Had I used a skillet, I think the sandwich would have fallen apart when I tried to flip it. The oat bread held up well in the panini press, but I think the rye would have been a sturdier option.

As far as the mushroom mixture, the four ounce mixture I made, which was half of the original eight ounce mixture, was only enough to make one sandwich. The original recipe claims the eight ounce mixture is enough to make four sandwiches. The mushrooms brought good texture to the sandwich, but the balsamic flavor was unbearably strong. If I were to make these sandwiches again, I would probably forgo the balsamic altogether.

Another thing I noticed about the sandwich was that I didn’t taste the scallion or thyme at all. This might have been because of how overwhelming the balsamic flavor was, but I think they would have been a nice addition to the sandwiches if you could have tasted them.

Overall, the sandwich wasn’t bad, but it was underwhelming. Personally, I think this recipe needs some serious editing to be worth trying again.