We’re starting this wintry week off with a gorgeous, hearty Hungarian Mushroom Soup from For the Love of Cooking. Two kinds of mushrooms, paprika and a bright lemon finish? These are a few of our favorite things…hop on over to the original post to check out the recipe!
This simple side dish looks like the perfect way to add some flavor to a healthy winter meal- posted and beautifully photographed by Deseree and Ryan of Life’s Ambrosia.
In these first few weeks of the New Year, many of us are still detoxing from the last few weeks of the old year. The rich indulgence from every angle has the larger “us” craving simpler foods that just feel good, from start to finish and then maybe some tasty leftovers for lunch. Today’s post features three recipes that will do just that, all incorporating two tasty, satiating ingredients that should be on the all-star roster for your winter menu: barley and (you guessed it!) mushrooms.
Turkey Veggie Barley Chili from Anne of Fannetastic Food
Mushroom Barley from Catherine of Weelicious
Healthy Mushroom Barley Soup from Christine of Once a Month Mom
This gorgeous tutorial for a healthy dinner comes to you from Sabrina- the blogger behind the healthy living (and eating!) blog RhodeyGirl Tests. Great cooking demo, Sabrina!
That is one beautiful pizza from Rebecca at Ezra Poundcake. I think this is on my menu tonight, only I’d like to try cooking it on the grill. Silently salivate on that for your Wordless Wednesday.
Breakfast: Portabella Eggs Benedict with Roasted Tomatoes and Pesto, brought to you by Healthy-ish
Lunch: Wild Mushroom and Cornbread Panzanella Salad, brought to you by Cookin’ Canuck
Dinner: Chicken Tetrazzini, brought to you by Poco-Cocoa
A Mushroom Lover’s Grilled Cheese…is a beautiful thing. Kelly’s photo from The Pink Apron almost brings tears to my eyes.
I think you could guess what’s happening for dinner at my house tonight.
This is recipe marks our first contribution from Colleen of the family food blog, Foodie Tots. We love her creative, healthy take on the types of salads that are usually crammed full not so healthy additives. Welcome to the team, Colleen!
When I think about mushrooms, the first recipes that come to mind are usually heavier comfort dishes: hearty soups, creamy risotto, or rich pastas. With Memorial Day just around the corner, ushering in the summer picnic season, I thought I’d create a lighter dish. This Mediterranean-inspired, family-friendly mushroom salad is a hearty filling for sandwiches, perfect for a meal on the go.
I tried to include the same elements that make a good chicken salad: something sweet, something crunchy, and no mayo (personal preference). In this recipe, sundried tomatoes lend a sweet burst of flavor and will tide you over until tomatoes are in season later in the summer. (The tomatoes also add visual appeal for kids, who are often tempted by more colorful foods.) Walnuts add the critical crunch, and you could up the protein content with some fresh mozzarella, too.
And should your picnic get rained out, you can take comfort in knowing that you’re still getting Vitamin D from the mushrooms.
When cooking mushrooms, use a large pan and try to keep them in a single layer. For this recipe, you may need to cook them in two batches.
Stir only once or twice, and cook until mushrooms are browned and just tender.
Mediterranean Mushroom Salad Croissants
Makes filling for 4-6 sandwiches
For the salad:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound cremini mushrooms
1 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
6-8 leaves fresh basil
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon pomegranate balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
For the sandwiches:
4 large croissants
1 cup baby spinach
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium low heat.
2. Clean the mushrooms gently with a damp paper towel. Cut in half lengthwise, then cut halves into quarters. Smaller mushrooms can simply be quartered; you want pieces about 1/4-inch thick.
3. Cook the mushrooms until browned and tender, about 10 minutes, stirring only once or twice. You may want to cook them in two batches, as they’ll brown better in a single layer.
4. While the mushrooms cook, coarsely chop sundried tomatoes, walnuts and basil. Place in a mixing bowl.
5. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a separate small bowl, set aside.
6. Combine cooked mushrooms with the tomato, walnut and basil mixture. Add dressing and toss gently to combine. Let rest 10 minutes for flavors to meld.
7. To assemble sandwiches, slice croissants in half. Arrange a handful of spinach leaves on bottom half, then top with a generous helping of mushroom salad. Place second half of croissant on top, slice in half, and wrap up to go. Enjoy!
Editor’s Note: This recipe is vegan, simply change the suggested croissant service for a favorite vegan bread or a bed of mixed greens.
Today’s Wordless Wednesday honors go to the divine Deb of Smitten Kitchen for her practical magic. If you love one mushroom crepe (everyone is nodding, yes?), why not stack them up for a real party? A Mushroom Crepe Cake- now why didn’t we think of that?
That’s already too many words for “Wordless Wednesday- head on over to the original post for more beautiful shots and, most importantly, the recipe!
Editor’s Note: Rachael is the inventive home chef behind La Fuji Mama. Now a mother of two, many of her dishes take inspiration from the time she spent living in Japan. While she’s no stranger to mushrooms (the Japanese diet are rich with them), this is her first post for the Mushroom Channel. Check out her recipe below but make the jump over to her main site when you’re done!
Yakitori, a dish of chicken threaded on skewers and cooked over a charcoal fire, is one of those foods that I start to crave when the weather turns sunny and warm. With all the beautiful weather we’ve been having, I decided it was time to break out the bamboo skewers and make some. Instead of making the traditional chicken skewers, I used fresh shiitake mushrooms and sliced scallions. Shiitake mushrooms, a native fungi of Japan, have a rich meaty and slightly smokey flavor. These mushrooms are fat free and a great source of protein, iron, dietary fiber, and vitamin C. Grilling them brings out their wonderful meaty flavor. You’ll find you won’t miss the chicken!
This is also a great way to introduce kids to shiitake mushrooms. I’ve found that kids are more receptive to anything served on a stick. Case in point—when my three year old saw we were making yakitori, she got very excited and told me, “I want some!” She didn’t even know what we were putting on those skewers!
Yakitori, a dish of chicken threaded on skewers and cooked over a charcoal fire, is one of those foods that I start to crave when the weather turns sunny and warm. With all the beautiful weather we’ve been having, I decided it was time to break out the bamboo skewers and make some. Instead of making the traditional chicken skewers, I used fresh shiitake mushrooms and sliced scallions. Shiitake mushrooms, a native fungi of Japan, have a rich meaty and slightly smokey flavor. These mushrooms are fat free and a great source of protein, iron, dietary fiber, and vitamin C. Grilling them brings out their wonderful meaty flavor. You’ll find you won’t miss the chicken!
When you are buying shiitake mushrooms, look for mushrooms that are plump, firm, and clean, and avoid any that have wet slimy spots on them or are wrinkled. They can be stored in the refrigerator in a loosely closed paper bag for about a week until you are ready to use them. Making the skewers is easy. You simple clean the mushrooms and discard their stems, and wash and cut the scallions into pieces. Then you thread the mushrooms and scallions onto the skewers. Make sure to soak your bamboo skewers beforehand so that they do not burn. Fresh shiitake mushrooms mushrooms are soft, so do not squeeze or push too hard. If you are having difficulty pushing the skewer through a mushroom, gently rotate the skewer as you are trying to push it through.
When you have finished putting the skewers together, you brush them with a tiny bit of vegetable oil and then set them on a preheated grill, with the mushrooms facing gill side up. You can also cook these skewers under the broiler. If you do this, make sure you start by cooking the skewers gill side down.
When the skewers have finished cooking and you are ready to serve them, brush them with a bit of tare (a slightly sweet and savory Japanese basting sauce) and serve them. They make a fabulous appetizer or side dish for a Spring or Summertime menu.
Makes 8 skewers
For the tare (basting sauce):
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup mirin
¼ granulated sugar
For the skewers:
16 large fresh shiitake mushrooms, preferably donko
1 bunch scallions
Vegetable oil
1. Make the tare: Put the soy sauce, mirin, and sugar into a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat. When the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking over low heat for 20 minutes. Skim any scum off the surface as the sauce is cooking. Set aside.
2. Make the skewers: Soak the bamboo skewers in water for 20 minutes. Preheat the grill. Clean the mushrooms with a slightly damp paper towel or cotton cloth, then cut away and discard the stems. Cut the firm white and whitish green parts of the scallions into 1 ¾ inch lengths.
3. Thread two mushrooms (lengthwise through the mushroom caps) and two pieces of scallion onto each skewer, alternating between the mushrooms and scallion pieces. Brush the mushrooms and scallions with a light layer of vegetable oil.
4. Place the skewers on the grill, with mushrooms facing gill side up. Cook the skewers until the tops of the mushroom caps are dry. Turn the skewers over (mushrooms gill side down), and cook them until the insides become wet with the mushrooms’ own juice. Turn the skewers over (mushrooms gill side up) one more time and cook for about 1 or 2 minutes more until the mushrooms and scallions are completely cooked through.
5. Remove the skewers from the grill, and with a pastry brush, baste them with the tare. Arrange the skewers on a large plate and serve.
Yakitori, a dish of chicken threaded on skewers and cooked over a charcoal fire, is one of those foods that I start to crave when the weather turns sunny and warm. With all the beautiful weather we’ve been having, I decided it was time to break out the bamboo skewers and make some. Instead of making the traditional chicken skewers, I used fresh shiitake mushrooms and sliced scallions. Shiitake mushrooms, a native fungi of Japan, have a rich meaty and slightly smokey flavor. These mushrooms are fat free and a great source of protein, iron, dietary fiber, and vitamin C. Grilling them brings out their wonderful meaty flavor. You’ll find you won’t miss the chicken!
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