Greek Stuffed Mushrooms

18 – 20 large white button mushrooms
1 pound ground lamb
2 oz. feta cheese, crumbles or chopped
1 egg
¼ c. bread crumbs
1½ tsp. Greek seasoning
½ tsp. dried mint, crushed
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Heat grill to about 325º to 350º. (If using a gas grill, heat up the entire grill; if using a charcoal grill, put briquettes on only one side.) Spray a grill topper with non-stick spray (unless topper is a non-stick). Once grill or coals are hot place grill topper on grill rack to heat.

Clean and pull out stems from mushrooms. (Can discard or save for later use.) Brush outside with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Mix remaining ingredients together. Press about 2 tablespoons of meat mixture in hollow of each mushroom cap and flatten slightly on top.

Place stuffed mushrooms meat side down on grill topper and cook over heat for 10 minutes. Either turn off gas units under topper or move topper to side without coals. Turn mushrooms so meat is up. Cook 15 – 20 minutes until done. Serves 4 – 5. (I think you could bake these at 325º if you wanted to do them when grilling is not a good option.)

This has got to be one of the best recipes I ever threw together. Luckily, I decided to write down ingredients and how much of each one. I bought my Greek seasoning from a vendor at the Jeffersonville Farmer's Market (sorry, don't remember name of vendor), but I think you can find it in the stores, or even through Penzey's Spices catalog. The inspiration came when I purchased some large button mushrooms that had been marked down at Kroger. I remembered I had some ground lamb in the freezer, had Feta cheese, and the Greek seasoning. And that's a lot for me to remember! Oh, and I also had some pita's that had gotten a little hard, plus the hummus. Then remembered the zucchini our friend Howard had given us from his garden. Thus a delicious dinner was created and really very easy. Below are the directions for the Zucchini and pita chips. Enjoy!

Marinated Zucchini: Cut Zucchini in quarters lengthwise. Marinate in Italian dressing for 30-60 minutes. Grill about 2-3 minutes on each of the 3 sides (2 cut, one with peel).

Baked Pita Chips: Preheat oven to 425º. Cut pita rounds into 8 wedges, leaving the wedges double. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and freshly ground pepper (or experiment with other spices/herbs, such as cumin or cinnamon/sugar). Bake for 10 minutes, turn and bake an additional 5 until crispy and brown. Serve with hummus. (My favorite is Kroger’s Private Selection Roasted Red Pepper.)