It's National Vegetarian Week once again, so here's a quick and easy recipe to show you that being veggie isn't all about lentils, and that life certainly is not too short to stuff a mushroom!
These stuffed mushrooms can be eaten as a starter, lunch or main meal, depending on the portion size and what you serve with them.
Serves 3-4 as a starter or lunch (2-3 mushrooms each, depending on size).
- 8 or 9 large flat mushrooms (Portabello type)
- 200g/8oz fresh spinach, washed
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- a little fresh nutmeg
- 50g/2oz vegetarian Brie (rind removed), roughly chopped
- 50g/2oz grated Parmesan-style hard cheese
Put the spinach into a large bowl. Do not add any water!
Cover with cling film and microwave for 2-3 minutes on high, or until cooked. Allow to cool, then squeeze as much moisture out as possible, and chop or blend roughly.
Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan or griddle and preheat the oven to 180C/170C Fan/Gas 4/350F.
Peel the outer skin from the mushrooms and remove the stalks.
Drizzle the mushrooms with a little olive oil and cook for around 5 minutes on a medium-high heat, turning occasionally. Remove from the pan and place in a dish or on a baking tray.
Chop the mushroom stalks finely.
Gently fry the onion and mushroom stalks in a drop of olive oil for a few minutes, then add the garlic, nutmeg and parsley. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
Then add the cooked spinach and cheeses and stir well to combine all of the ingredients.
Top each mushroom with a tablespoon of the spinach mixture (at this point you could chill the mushrooms and re-heat later).
Pop into the oven for 5-10 minutes to heat through.
Serve with salad and bread. Not suitable for freezing.
Top tips: Cook the mushrooms on a barbecue. Top with the pre-made spinach mixture and warm through. These mushrooms would also make a tasty main course served pasta.
Vegan version: Swap the dairy cheeses for your preferred vegan cheese alternatives.
I'm linking this post to the Meat Free Mondays round-up over at Tinned Tomatoes.
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National Vegetarian Week 16 - 22 May 2016
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This is my first attempt at a superfood salad, and I'm pretty pleased at how well it turned out... It's packed full of protein, fibre and vitamins, but still tastes great!
Thanks to the Suma Blogger's Network, I get to try out lots of weird and wonderful, new vegetarian products. This time, freekeh and pomegranate molasses were amongst my picks. For those of you who don't know, freekeh, pronounced free-ka (young, green wheat which is cracked and roasted), is considered both an ancient grain and a super-grain. It has a high fibre and protein content and is very versatile as it can be served hot or cold in place of other grains such as rice or quinoa.
Pomegranate molasses was a revelation to me, as it was far more tangy and flavoursome than I anticipated (I thought it would be sweet!), and gives a great sweet and sour flavour to a dressing.
Serves 4 as a lunch or side salad; 2 as a main meal
For the salad
- 1 cup freekeh from Suma
- 2 cups veg stock
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ teaspoon lightly toasted cumin seeds, ground, more to taste
- 2 bell peppers,deseeded and cut into chunks
- 2 cups of butternut squash or sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- 1 cup of button mushrooms, halved
- 4 tbsp pine nuts
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- a small bunch of chopped, fresh mint
- ½ cup crumbled feta (optional)
For the dressing
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses from Suma
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6/400F
Put the peppers and squash into a roasting pan and drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil.
Roast for 20-30 minutes until softened and starting to brown.
Add the mushrooms, chickpeas, pine nuts, cumin seeds and crushed garlic and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for around 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the freekeh and stock into a large pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Simmer, with the lid on, for 20-25 minutes, or until the grain is soft and just starting to break up.
Drain well and allow to cool for around 15 minutes.
Mix the dressing ingredients together and stir into the warm freekeh.
When the freekeh and vegetables are still just warm (but not hot!), mix together to combine.
Add the mint and feta, if using.
Serve warm or cold.
Keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge; not suitable for freezing.
Vegan option: Omit the feta or swap for vegan feta or halved olives.
Integrity Statement
As a member of the Suma Blogger's Network, I will receive a selection of complimentary products from Suma every two months, to use in recipe development, and will blog an original recipe for the Network.
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