30 January 2024

Make Room for Mushrooms!

As Veganuary draws to a close we thought we’d highlight a few favourite recipes to take forward into 2024 and what better place to start than with mushrooms!

A nutrient-dense superfood, mushrooms contain antioxidants as well as essential minerals such as selenium, potassium, copper, iron and phosphorus and plenty of B vitamins. They have a wonderfully savoury umami taste and add significant flavour to a dish, allowing for a reduction in added salt.

There are plenty of different types of mushrooms available to buy, each with a unique flavour and texture and luckily all with very similar health benefits. Use large flat portobello mushrooms in place of burgers, slice raw chestnut mushrooms into a salad or fry oyster mushrooms in a light tempura batter for a crispy treat.

There are lots of quick and easy ways to add mushrooms into your diet, including adding to scrambled eggs, omelettes and quiches, adding a few to your morning smoothie, sautéing a few for a pasta sauce, slicing raw into salads or using as a meat substitute in burgers, curries and casseroles.

All of our recipes below are vegan or vegetarian with easy swaps to vegan.

Cajun Beer Battered Oyster Mushrooms – Cajun spiced fried mushrooms make a delicious fake-away on a Friday night! Many thanks to Rachel Ama for this recipe from her cookbook One Pot: Three Ways Hodder & Stoughton Publishers 2012; photo Haraal Hamilton 2021
Vegan Mushroom Kedgeree - "Hearty, wholesome and utterly scrumptious, bursting with flavours from the spices! Kedgeree is traditionally made with smoked fish, and this vegan dish has all the smoky taste, fishy flavours and textures of fish, but using natural plant-based alternatives. Both the mushrooms and peas are full of protein, freshness and total deliciousness!" So say The Vegan Larder who created this tasty recipe for us.
Mushroom & Beetroot Kedgeree - This is a really impressive vegan centrepiece for any occasion. Slicing into the beetroot really shows off its vibrant colour and the earthy mushroom and beetroot flavours work deliciously with the slightly floral Mediterranean herb mix. This would be great as a vegan alternative main course for a roast dinner.
Caramelised Spicy Mushroom Donburi – A delicious dish of savoury mushrooms with a sweet spicy sauce from Gourmet Glow . Use any mushrooms you have to hand, the more variety the better.
Creamy Mushroom soup – a traditional mushroom soup made with a roux and the addition of a little brandy for added flavour!
Baked Portobello Mushrooms – everything tastes good with cheese! Especially a juicy portobello mushroom stuffed with roasted Mediterranean vegetables and topped with cheese and crispy breadcrumbs.
Garlic Mushrooms on toast – the old ones are sometimes the best. What could be more comforting than mushrooms sautéed in a little oil, butter and garlic with a liberal sprinkling of Perfect Salt, chopped parsley and healthy mixed seeds?