As much as I would love to say I have always loved mushrooms, that would be a big fat lie. Because I haven’t. In fact, they used to be right up there with the dreaded Brussels sprouts – I had to be bribed to eat them. Even to try them. Then one day, not tooooo many years ago, I did. And WOW! What a revelation! What had I been missing all those years!
Now I just can’t get enough of them! I happily eat a few mushrooms nearly every day – for either breakfast, lunch or dinner. Yes, that’s right. For breakfast. One of my favourite mushroom breakfast dishes is my “scrambled-omelette” – quick to make, gorgeous to eat.
The most amazing array of mushrooms I have ever seen was when I went to the Fisherman’s Wharf Farmer’s Markets in San Francisco a few years ago. The variety was just incredible: lobster, hedgehog, oyster, wood ear and so many more!
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| Amazing array of mushrooms – all colors, shapes and sizes… |
As one of my food goals for 2012 is to eat less meat and more vegetarian meals, I suspect mushrooms will be making a lot of appearances on my menu!
Lucky for me, mushrooms are also one of those foods that are really good for you! A 100g serving of mushies has more dietary fibre (2.5g) than 100g of celery (1.8g) or a slice of wholemeal bread (2.0g). And also more protein than most other veggies. And let’s face it. Mushrooms are soooo much yummier than celery sticks!
But the real kicker for me is that 100g of raw mushrooms only has 100kj. Yes, you read that correctly! Only 100kj! Or less than 24 calories. Which, when you love cheese and butter (two foods that go brilliantly with mushrooms by the way…) as much as me, is a REAL bonus!
I made this for a quick and simple lunch the other day – despite it being a MISERABLE day, I fired up the BBQ, but you could just as easily cook it on the stove.
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| Mushrooms on toast with haloumi. Boring name, mouthwatering flavours! |
All you need for 1 person is:
- 1 slice of sourdough or other gorgeous bread
- 1 clove of garlic cut in half
- 1 slice of haloumi (yes, yes I know my pictures have 2 pieces. And yes, I ate them both…)
- about 100-125g mushrooms, cut into halves or quarters (I used Swiss brown but you could use flat, button or whatever else you fancy)
- 1 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- squeeze of half a lemon
- sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
- salt and pepper
Pop the mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, olive oil, lemon juice, s&p into a small bowl, mix together and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
Rub the slice of sourdough with the piece of cut garlic (I then chopped this up too and added it to the mushroom mix – according to my beloved, I REEKED of garlic that night. And the next morning. Oh well. It tasted AMAZING!)
Heat the BBQ – you need the flat plate. I use a silicone mat on our BBQ flat plate as it is easier than constantly cleaning the plate! Plus, ours is a bit rusty and manky. It’s also non-stick, so you don’t need to add extra oil.
Once the plate is hot, add the mushroom mix, the haloumi, and pop the bread on the grill (the grill section doesn’t need to be turned on as there should be enough residual heat). TURN THE BBQ HEAT DOWN so nothing burns (learnt this the hard way the first time I cooked haloumi!).
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| On the BBQ |
It all takes about 5-8 minutes to cook – I normally take it off when the haloumi is cooked – you want it to look a beautiful golden colour.
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| Cooked haloumi |
Once cooked, serve it up! This is gorgeous for a quick breakfast too, especially when entertaining.
Instead of haloumi you could add a fried egg – the beauty of the silicone mat I used is that you don’t need to use oil, so your fried egg is actually healthy.
A few variations to this:
- use thyme or basil instead of rosemary
- add some chopped red onion
- add some bacon or proscuitto
- pop some butter on the BBQ to cook the mushrooms (I don’t think it needs it, but many disagree!)
What’s your favourite way to eat mushrooms?
Big thanks to the Australian Mushroom Growers Association for sponsoring this post and recipe as part of their Summer Mushrooms campaign. Check out these sites for many more gorgeous summer mushroom ideas.
Great combo! Salty halloumi and earthy mushrooms are an excellent match 🙂
I could happily eat that most times of the day. I’d probably need more greenery though.
Yum!
Love Haloumi – I might have to restart my quest to like mushrooms this year. My quest kind of failed last year, but mixed with haloumi, I think I could do. (yes I am a bad vegetarian who is not a fan of mushrooms!)
I love mushrooms – my fave? Sauteed in butter on sourdough topped with a little parmesan – OR – sauteed in butter (I see a pattern here) add a splash of port and serve with red meat. Yum!
(Going to have to leave a comment via blogger, your word verification keeps rejecting me)
I have been away in a tech free zone on holidays, so catching up on some great mushroom recipes is a deliciously different way to get back into the working year. Happy to also hear of your renewed love of mushrooms. Go the healthy all-rounder!
thanks everyone! I had this again for breakfast today – sooo good! Rhu I like your idea of adding a bit of parmesan. Or red wine. I reckon goats cheese would be good too.
Go the mushie!!!
Mushroom ROCKS! I love it so much 🙂