Recipe Review: Baked Eggs in a Portabella Cap

Andover Diet Center has a great listing of recipes for those following the Ideal Protein plan or a low-carb diet in general.  Here is one of my favorites:  Baked Eggs in a Portabella Cap (photo above from the site). I reproduce the recipe below for convenience and add my notes which provide some additional techniques or details to make the recipe as good as it can possibly be.

Reminder the portion of eggs for a Phase 1-3 dieters is 2 whole eggs plus 2 egg whites.

So you could actually have two mushroom caps, with 1 egg plus 1 egg white in each cap.

Ingredients:

eggs
portobello mushroom caps
black pepper
fresh parsley or thyme
a little olive oil

Instructions:

Clean the portobello mushroom caps with a damp cloth, remove the stem and scrape out the gills so you have a well deep enough for the egg.  LCHD NOTE:  Use a spoon to remove the gills--set them aside for use later.  Use care to keep from cracking or slicing through the edge of the cap--otherwise you'll leak the egg onto the baking pan.

Rub a little bit of olive oil on the outside of the mushroom to help it cook and keep it from sticking to the pan. Arrange the caps on a baking sheet.  LCHD NOTE:  Depending on how flat the caps are you may need to balance them on something--I use ramekins on the pan in the case where the cap is severely tilted.

Crack each egg into a small bowl and then carefully slide it onto a mushroom cap

Sprinkle with black pepper and fresh herbs of choice â I used parsley but thyme would be great as well.  LCHD NOTE:  Saute the gills with some soy sauce and drop them back into the cap before you fill it with the egg.  For more protein add sauteed ground beef/turkey or even broken up bits of bacon.

CAREFULLY place the baking pan into the pre-heated 375 degree F oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. The amount of time required depends on how thick your mushrooms are and how done you like your eggs.