Home >> vegetarian

Posts Tagged ‘vegetarian’

« Older Entries

Baby Bella, Caramelized Onion & Swiss Panini from bell’alimento

Monday, January 9th, 2012

Whether you need a filling, warm lunch or a comforting sandwich to pair with dinner, this panini, packed with baby bella mushrooms, gooey cheese, and sweet sauteed onions is a superb sandwich choice! Read on for the recipe from Paula from bell’alimento.

Panini are Italian pressed sandwiches that come filled with just about anything your heart desires. This vegetarian version will satisfy even the biggest of appetites.  It’s filled with creamy caramelized onions and baby bella mushrooms that have been sautéed to perfection in an herb butter. It’s oozing with Swiss cheese and has a big crunchy exterior thanks to the Pan Bigio bread. It’s a stellar lunch or light dinner when accompanied with a hearty bowl of soup!

What you’ll need: (Makes 2 panini)

Caramelized Onions:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion – thinly sliced
salt/pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Mushrooms:
2 tablespoons unsalted herb butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
6 ounces baby bella mushrooms – sliced

4 slices Pan Bigio – sliced thick on the bias
4 slices Swiss cheese
4 cherry tomatoes – halved, optional

What to do:
1. Place 2 tablespoons olive oil into a sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add onions.  Season with salt/pepper.  Cook until onions are softened. Add sugar, continue cooking, stirring as necessary until onions have caramelized (approximately 30 minutes). Set aside.

2. Into a small sauté pan add: 2 tablespoons herb butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Heat over medium heat.  Add mushrooms. Season with salt/pepper. Cook for approximately 4-5 minutes. Set aside.

3. Heat your Panini press to 350 degrees. Equally distribute mushrooms between two slices of bread. Equally top with mushrooms with caramelized onions. Place 2 slices of Swiss cheese on each piece of bread. (NOTE: if using tomatoes place them on at this time) Place corresponding slices of bread on top. Lightly brush tops of bread with room temperature herb butter.

4. Place sandwiches onto hot panini press. Cook for approximately 4-5 minutes until bread is toasted and cheese has melted.

TIPS: If you do not have a panini grill, use a non-stick skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Place sandwich onto hot pan. Using a heavy pan (such as a cast iron pan), weigh sandwich down. Cook as directed above.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight, Portabella, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Happy First Annual Food Day!

Monday, October 24th, 2011

Food Day is a grassroots campaign organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) that encourages people to “eat real” by focusing on healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.

As you might imagine, everyone at the Mushroom Channel is quite on board with the concept of Food Day. Mushrooms offer a versatile and tasty solution for unprocessed, low-calorie entrees, side dishes and snacks. Their flexibility and friendliness toward virtually any kind of diet makes them an easy addition to any “real” shopping list. We’re proud to bring them to your stores, markets and tables and excited about what lies ahead.

How are you celebrating? Attend a Food Day event near you or get festive at home tonight by make this recipe for Oven Roasted Mushroom and Vegetable Salad.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Editor Post, Health | No Comments »

Grilled Portabellas Stuffed with Spinach, Fresh Pesto and Goat Cheese

Friday, July 29th, 2011

We’re in the throes of it now, mushroom friends. And by “it,” I mean summer. It is truly hard for us to believe that by Monday August will be upon us.  Of course, it only takes a quick step outside before all makes sense again.  It’s hot out there and neither an open flame in the kitchen nor the overstuffed feeling that comes from heavy eating sounds particularly appealing.

If you are entering the weekend in a similar mindset, we have a fresh summer dinner idea for you, straight from the patio of a humble Mushroom Channel team member!

Grilled Portabellas Stuffed with Spinach, Pesto and Goat Cheese

1/2 cup prepared pesto (I defrosted some from last summer but a favorite jarred variety would work just fine)
1 cup spinach leaves
1 cup basil leaves
4 portabella mushroom caps, excess dirt brushed off and stem removed
Cooking spray
4 oz  goat cheese

Fresh pepper to taste

I actually found that the easiest way to start was to give each mushroom cap a light coating of olive oil or cooking spray all the way around, then season it generously with fresh pepper.

Spread an even amount of pesto at the base of each mushroom.  From there, start alternating layers of basil and spinach leaves. Three of each is more than enough but it will wilt down. From there, press your goat cheese into the the top leaves to secure all the filling.

These are on the grill 8-10 minutes total (with lid closed) and are ready when the cap turns dark brown and the goat cheese is getting golden on the top. I served with undressed fresh salad and some chilled carrots leftover from a previous roasting session. If you want to replicate the face I made, I don’t see anything wrong with playing with your food- these are fun-gi, right?

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Dinner Tonight, Editor Post, Health, Portabella, vegetarian | No Comments »

The Mushrooms and the Barley: Three Great Recipes

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

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

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Dinner Tonight, Editor Post, Health, Immune boost, Mushroom Recipe of the Week, vegetarian, wordless wednesday | No Comments »

Mushroom Arancini with Cremini Tomato Sauce from Eat Live Travel Write

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Today’s post comes to you from Mardi at Eat. Live. Travel. Write.

For my second post here on The Mushroom Channel, I am sharing a recipe that combines some old favourite flavours with some new inspiration.  I have wanted to make arancini (Italian rice balls) for some time now but it calls for leftover risotto and we never have any leftovers!  On returning home from a recent trip to California, three things were in my favour with regards to making arancini – firstly, I hadn’t cooked for over two weeks and was missing my kitchen. Standing over the stove making a big pot of risotto sounded like a pretty good place to be.  Secondly, whilst in San Francisco, I had the good fortune to visit Far West Fungi in The Ferry Building, where I picked up golden chanterelles, dried morels and some porcini mushroom stock cubes that are hard to find in Toronto.

Thirdly, I had some St André cheese and some fresh cremini mushrooms in the fridge needing to be used up.  I got to thinking that the chanterelles would be a perfect addition to a favourite mushroom risotto, whilst the morels and St André would make an excellent filling for the rice balls. You could, of course, use any type of dried mushroom you like.  I started out by making the risotto the day before I needed it for the arancini.  It was difficult not to eat it then and there!

Mushroom Risotto (Serves 6)

This is the first risotto I learned how to make – adapted from a Joan Campbell recipe my mum sent me to Paris with when I moved there in 1994, photocopied from a magazine- I still have the piece of paper!  It might be an oldie but it’s a goodie!  This adaptation of the recipe is a fabulous dish for vegetarians at a dinner party but one that even die-hard carnivores love too!  It is so simple; it has become our “go-to” recipe, even for weeknights.  It’s simple but elegant and very classy.

Ingredients

  • 1 litre mushroom stock
  • 650mls water
  • ½ stick (3 tablespoons) butter
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 small onions, peeled and finely diced
  • salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
  • 2 cups Arborio rice
  • ½ cup of dry white wine
  • small pinch saffron
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
  • 3/4 cup chopped mushrooms (I used dried golden chanterelle mushrooms soaked in water for about 30 minutes)

Method
Bring water and vegetable stock to a boil.  Add the saffron to the stock.  Cover and keep warm.

Meanwhile, melt butter and olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan.  Fry onion until it is translucent.  Add the Arborio rice and season with salt and pepper.  Mix so that onion and rice are well combines and the grains of rice are well coated.

Add the wine and stir until the wine has nearly evaporated.  Add a ladleful of the stock/water and mix until it has been absorbed.  Add another ladleful and continue, a ladleful at a time until all stock has been used.  Risotto should be slightly al dente (chewy).  Stir in the drained and roughly chopped chanterelles and cheese and remove from the heat.

The next day I got to work on the arancini.  For the filling, I used about 15g of the morels, soaked in boiling water for about 30 minutes, then drained and roughly chopped and about 16 small cubes of the St André.  This amount of risotto made 10 generous arancini, so 10 starters or 5 main courses.  I prepared the eggs for dipping (4 eggs, beaten) and the panko breadcrumbs (you can use ordinary ones but I like the texture of panko).

I wanted them to be about the size of small oranges so I took some of the mixture and flattened it in my palm, then added the filling.  I took about the same amount of mixture again and placed it on top of the fillings and squeezed hard to form tightly compacted arancini. I heated some olive oil in a shallow pan whilst I dipped the arancini in egg and the panko.  They took about 20 minutes to fry evenly all over at a medium heat.

Tomato and Fresh Cremini Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

  • 16oz can peeled tomatoes
  • a generous handful of basil
  • 4 garlic cloves,
  • 3/4 cup fresh cremini mushrooms, roughly diced

Heat tomatoes, basil and garlic over medium heat until bubbling, reduce temperature and blend with an immersion blender.  Add the diced mushrooms and continue to reduce to desired consistency.  I like a runnier sauce so don’t reduce it that much.  Top the arancini with the sauce and some fresh basil.

This was an incredible dish – your carnivore friends will never even miss the meat because of the meaty mushrooms in the filling, the risotto and the sauce – and the best part? The morel and St André surprise inside.

A lovely dish to make with your leftover risotto – that is if you have any! – or simply to make from scratch.  Served with simple salad leaves, it’s a perfect light meal where mushrooms really are the star of the dish.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Dinner Tonight, Featured Contributor | No Comments »

Featured Contributor: Yaki Shiitake from La Fuji Mama

Monday, May 10th, 2010

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.

Yaki Shiitake (Shiitake & Scallion Yakitori)

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!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight, Featured Contributor, Health, vegan, vegetarian | 4 Comments »

Mushroom Hazelnut “Pate” from Savour-Fare

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Welcome to a new team of Mushroom Channel contributors! Our first post comes directly from Kate, the brains behind Savour-Fare. Kate’s creations have been featured on Food52, Tastepotting, Foodgawker, Foodista and The Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen.  Welcome to the mushroom team, Kate!

As a child, there were only a few things I would not eat, and one of them was mushrooms.

This caused my mycophilic parents great anxiety. Mushrooms featured heavily in the family lore, as they were on the menu the first time my father ever cooked dinner for my mother (sautéed with an entire stick of butter.  My dad knew how to woo the ladies), and my folks simply could not understand how I could miss out on the joys that are mushrooms.  They tried everything they could to make me see the light, offering sliced raw mushrooms in salad, mushrooms baked into macaroni and cheese and, for the win, as the pizza topping of choice.

However, despite their most earnest entreaties, I remained steadfast in my dislike of mushrooms, eating around them in the mac and cheese, turning up my nose at the salads, and picking them off my pizza, one by one.

What my otherwise loving and wise parents did not understand was that my objection to mushrooms was all in my mind.  My eight year old self knew they were fungi, and the slippery texture of the cooked mushrooms my parents plied me with did nothing to distract me from that knowledge.

My conversion from a mushroom hater to a mushroom lover had to come in another form, where the texture of the mushrooms became secondary to that woodsy, earthy, haunting flavor that the best mushrooms offer.  Fortunately for my culinary education, a mushroom pate offered just that – a distillation of the flavor of mushrooms, with a texture closer to the finest country terrine.  I was offered a pate like this one, happily ate it up, and promptly decided that maybe mushrooms weren’t so bad after all.

Now, as an adult, I can say with all honesty that I love the slippery little buggers, and I am more than happy to top a salad of spring mache with a sauté of delicate chanterelles, or add some earthy portobellos to my pizza.  And my daughter shows no sign of my childhood proclivities – she will happily gobble silky shiitakes in a stir fry, or chow on a pungent porcini pasta.  But then again, she’s only two, and the opinions about texture might just come later.  So I’ve created this recipe for mushroom pate, sweetened with hazelnuts, brightened with lemon, and almost meaty with cremini mushrooms, sautéed in butter.  Just in case.  After all, we wouldn’t want her to miss out on the joys that are mushrooms.

Mushroom Pate

Adapted from Sunset

  • ½ ounce mixed wild dried mushrooms (my daughter often throws these in the shopping cart – the one I use is a blend of dried shiitake, porcini, oyster and wood ear mushrooms)
  • 1/ 4 c. boiling water
  • 1 lb cremini mushrooms
  • 2 large or 3 small shallots
  • 3 T butter
  • 1 c. whole hazelnuts
  • 2 T olive oil
  • Juice and zest of 1 lemon
  • Salt to taste

1) Rehydrate the dried mushrooms by soaking them in a bowl with the boiling water until the mushrooms are plump and soft.

2) Wash the cremini mushrooms by passing them under running water (contrary to myth, this won’t make them spongy.  But it will make them clean), and remove the stems.

3) In a food processor, combine the rehydrated mushrooms with the water they soaked in, the cremini mushroom caps, and the shallots (peeled).  Pulse until everything is finely chopped.

4) In a large skillet, melt the butter, add the mushroom mixture and a large pinch of salt, and sauté over low heat, stirring often, until the mushrooms are golden brown  and any liquid that has been released during cooking has evaporated.

5) Meanwhile, toast the hazelnuts and remove the skins (rubbing them in a mesh bag that originally held onions or garlic works wonderfully).

6) In the food processor (you don’t have to clean it thoroughly; it’s OK if there are still bits of mushrooms in there for this step), process the nuts until finely chopped and start to form a paste.  With the mixer running, pour the olive oil through the tube and process until the nuts are smooth.  Add the mushroom mixture and continue to process until the mixture is homogeneous and resembles a loose pate.  Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt to taste.

7) Put the mushroom pate into a jar or crock and chill before serving.  Serve with good crusty bread or crackers to mushroom lovers and picky children.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Featured Contributor, Health, Uncategorized, holidays | 5 Comments »

Weekly Links: Mushroom News from Around the Web

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Magical Mushrooms for Skin Beauty We all know by now that mushrooms are good for you, but it seems like new benefits are being discovered every day! From immune system health to skin care, the fabulous fungi can protect against viruses, tumors, and acne alike, as they’re loaded with antioxidants and vitamin D. Yahoo Health! dishes on the latest study from Tufts University and the implications it has for mushrooms as flu fighters, wrinkle warriors and even acne avengers.

Meatless mains – US food trends Mushrooms’ meaty texture and umami goodness make them alluring as heroes of the dish to vegetarians and nonvegetarians alike. Restaurants & Institutions’ latest poll, the 2010 New American Diner Study, found that 1 in 4 of us is eating more meatless meals than we did a year ago. So, it came as no surprise to see mushrooms featured numerous times in the suggested meatless meals that accompanied this new data.

Do-It-Yourself Mushrooms New York Times comments on the increase in small-scale mushroom growing, or better put, mushroom DIYers. A new demand from cooking shows and food magazines for fungi has spurred mushrooming growth across the board for the past decade, from large-scale growers to small-time farmers market suppliers and now right into the consumer’s very own home. We’re not surprised, though! Who can resist the deliciously healthy fungi that can make such a wide variety of delectable dishes?

Add a touch of diversity to dishes Looking to jazz up your diet? Daily World discusses the versatility of mushrooms, providing insight into the many ways they can be used in a variety of dishes. The names of some of these ’shrooms might sound crazy, but we all know these “fun guys” are really down to earth.

Mushroom king commands respect The Chicago Tribune quotes our pres, Bart Minor, on the king of mushrooms who’s recently come to rule the hearts of chefs around the world: the king oyster mushroom. And this isn’t just any fish in the sea; its meaty stem and increasing availability make it a favorite in the fungi kingdom. Whether they’re cooked tempura style (Minor’s personal pref) or scalloped and sautéed, the king oyster will satisfy your every craving!

Peppers Too Pricey? Stuff and Grill Mushrooms Mushrooms might be full of flavor and nutrients, but they sure don’t come at a hefty price to match! The Associated Press reports on the always satisfying mushroom and its affordability compared to their other produce aisle counterparts, providing a mouthwatering grilled sausage-stuffed portabella recipe that you have to check out.

The Vitamin D Solution Dr. Michael Holick’s new book, The Vitamin D Solution, just hit the shelves posing this hormone (did you know vitamin D isn’t really a true vitamin after all?) as the potential cure-all for a host of illnesses. Holick recommends getting your D from foods like mushrooms, the only item in the produce section to contain this crucial nutrient, and supplements.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

Photo Credit: Veggie Num Num

Breakfast Mushrooms by Veggie Num Num. Loving everything about starting a day this way.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Breakfast, Health | 1 Comment »

Weekly Links: Mushroom News from Around the Web

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Winter vegetarian bean stew Savor the rich meaty texture of Portabellas in this awesome vegetarian stew – a hearty soup perfect for cold wintry days. Don’t let your soup get too soupy, though; be sure to remove the inner gills of your ports before they’re cooked!

Cremini Mushrooms Stuffed With A Caper And Crab Salad Savory.tv shares many of the health benefits of mushrooms alongside a delightful recipe for stuffed caps. Mushrooms’ copper and potassium content is noted, as is their energy-boosting B vitamins and immunity-strengthening antioxidants!

100 Ways to Cut 100 Calories To stop weight gain, most Americans only need to remember one thing: energy in must equal energy out. In other words, the calories you consume must be equivalent to those you burn and if you want to lose weight, the scale must be tipped toward energy out. These tips for cutting calories from Prevention can help you do just that! They’ve provided great suggestions for all food situations: breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, beverages and even dining out. Check out the lunch/dinner tab for a great mushroom tip: slash calories by adding veggies, like mushrooms, to pasta sauces instead of meat!

Cutting Salt Intake Would Boost Nation’s Health Like the taste of salt? If Americans cut their salt intake by a mere half teaspoon per day, it would result in public health benefits on par with reducing high cholesterol, smoking and obesity. It could even reduce the number of heart attacks in the U.S. by up to 13 percent. All mushrooms are very low in sodium, so add them to your meals to get that great umami flavor to replace the desire for a salty taste!

Portobello Mushroom Marinara Sauce Get rid of meat in your pasta sauce and add the wonderful texture and flavor of Portabella mushrooms instead – cutting some calories, fat and sodium out of your meal. This sauce can be ready to serve in just 30 minutes or less, great for those late work nights.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

« Older Entries