The flexitarian prescription

Love, love, love stuffed mushrooms. Traditionally, it seems like these come with sausage or ground beef but why? Seriously. The flavor is outstanding when meat is left out and they’re hearty enough for a meal, or can be a fun appetizer if you want to use smaller ones. And, if you make too much stuffing, save it and freeze it to use later OR stuff extra mushrooms and freeze those. I’ve done it both ways and it works out perfectly.

As for the stuffing, I’ve made these with millet (which is actually a seed, not a grain), barley, couscous and a variety of different rices but our favorite is a mixture of long grain and black rice. But hey, you do you : ) Oh, and one super cool thing you can do is save the “innards” and stems and make a broth. Brilliant. Yea. I know!

STUFFED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS

PREP TIME: 40 minutes  |  COOK TIME: 20-40 minutes

• 4 portobello mushrooms, cleaned and gutted
• 2 cups millet or wild rice or something similar, cooked
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1 cup spinach, chopped
• 2 TBS fresh parsley
• 1 TBS crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: toasted walnuts, pine nuts or filberts

Rinse portobellos and gently dry with a paper towel. Remove stems. Take a spoon and “gut” them by carefully scrapping out all the black stuff. Lightly brush tops with olive oil and place on parchment lined baking sheet. For the stuffing: Cook rice according to directions. In another pan, sauté onion, celery and garlic in olive oil over medium high for about 10 minutes. Add artichoke hearts, spinach, and spices, stir in cooked rice; option to add toasted nuts of any kind. Tightly stuff portobellos with rice mixture; option to add cheese vegan or otherwise, to tops and or even to the stuffing mixture. Cook for 40 minutes (or 20 minutes for smaller, bite-size mushrooms) at 350 degrees. Enjoy.