Trendy Veggies: Mushroom Meatless Monday

This Saturday at the farmers market I bought some maitake mushrooms. They taste pretty unique as a mushroom but they definitely taste really good. They’re also unique in its size. They can grow up to 80 pounds in an overlapping leafy pattern. Maitake mushrooms are also amazingly good for your health. When I googled recipes to use them in, I found maitake mushroom supplements more than I found the actual mushrooms. Some of the leading researchers have said, “It may be the most versatile and promising medicinal mushroom supplement.”

This mushroom contains beta glucans that can boost your immune system by producing more cytokins that send alarms to the immune system. One of the most amazing effects is that it has been known to fight tumor cells to stop or even reverse the growth of tumors. The maitake mushrooms have also been shown to help type 2 diabetes, reduce high blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerades, and improve response to infectious diseases.

If you can get these mushrooms give them a try to boost your health! Here is a mushroom risotto recipe I made today.

Mushroom Risotto Recipe

Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter
2 cups mushrooms- I’ll be using maitake mushrooms and supplementing with shitake
2/3 cup or dry white wine
5-6 cups vegetable stock
1 3/4 cup risotto rice
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Bring stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

2 Melt the butter in a deep, heavy, medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir to combine.

3 Add wine, bring to a boil, and reduce liquid by half, about 3-4 minutes. Add simmering stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring enough to keep the rice from sticking to the edges of the pan. Stir the rice almost constantly — stirring sloughs off the starch from the rice, making the creamy sauce you're looking for in a risotto. Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup. This process will take about 25 minutes. The rice should be just cooked and slightly chewy.

4 Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or chives.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

I made it and it is delicious! Here are some pictures