Mighty Mushroom

Picking my next favorite food was not an easy choice, but in the end, I just had to choose mushrooms. Due to their versatility, I use them with almost every recipe and every meal that I make. To be honest, I feel a little lost if I’m out of mushrooms as they add so much flavour, and the aroma it creates in the house is mouth watering!

Did you know that there are over 14,000 mushrooms, only about 3,000 are edible, about 700 have known medicinal properties, and fewer than one percent are recognized as poisonous? Well, just to be safe, get your mushrooms in the store, instead of, you know, a forest...

Beside their flavour, I love mushrooms because they are very low in calories as they have very high water content. They are low in fat and have lots of fiber. Mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. Mushrooms are a rich source of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals.

As I mentioned, I use mushrooms in almost everything, like lasagna, chicken sauce, sautéed vegetables and stir fry, omelettes, as well as pizzas. The following recipe is really tasty and easy to make!

Portobello Pizza:

Ingredients:

•1 large Portobello mushroom, stem removed (1 mushroom per individual pizza, so use
as many mushrooms as you want to make pizzas)

•1 tablespoon spaghetti/pizza/ tomato sauce

•mozzarella cheese to cover the mushroom

•1/2 tablespoon sliced black olives

•Sprinkle basil and oregano for extra flavour

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. Place the mushroom on a baking sheet, and bake for 5 minutes in the preheated oven.
Remove from the oven, and spread spaghetti sauce in the cup of the cap. Top with
cheese, olives, and spices

3. Bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and golden.

Enjoy!