While I'm not vegetarian, I love finding new ways to cook food for my vegetarian fiance. I had a craving for sliders one day, but couldn't find any recipes online. So I came up with this mini mushroom slider recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:
Pair of crimini mushrooms (roughly same size, note they will shrink!)
1 small tomato
1 piece of lettuce
1 veggie patty (Morning Star Breakfast Veggie Patty works great! You can find this at Safeway)
Siracha Mayo
Sprigs of fresh thyme
Butter

Supplies:
Saute pan
Cooking knife
Toothpicks

Instructions:

1. Wash the mushrooms and remove the stems carefully.

2. Slice hatch marks on the tops of the mushrooms (not all the way through) to allow cooking juices to soak in. Otherwise, your mushroom buns will end up really hard to chew.

3. Add a sliver of butter to a saute pan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, add the mushrooms individually.

4. Add a pinch of fresh thyme leaves and put the pan lid on. Cook until the mushrooms have softened. Note, they will shrink in size!

5. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside on dry paper towels. Pat dry.

6. Clean the saute pan. Then use the same pan to heat up the veggie patties until they're a little crispy, usually just a few minutes per side over medium heat.

7. While the patties are cooking, wash the lettuce and tomato.

8. Slice the tomato into individual circles.

9. Now take your lettuce leaf and tear into small pieces, roughly the diameter of your mushrooms.

10. Once your patties are done, remove from pan and pat dry on a clean paper towel.

11. Use a small spice container lid or circular cookie cutter to cut circles out of the veggie patties, roughly the size of your mushrooms.

12. Now to assemble! On a clean plate, place a mushroom cap on a plate, followed (in any order) by a piece of lettuce, veggie patty, splash of siracha mayo, and tomato. Finish the stack off with the last mushroom and use a toothpick to hold everything together.

13. Sprinkle some fresh thyme leaves on top.

14. Continue making more, or enjoy your mini veggie slider!