What a week HMC is having!  After having a featured article on the front page of the Bloomington Herald paper, the AP picked it up on Monday and it ran in over a dozen Indiana and national papers!   If our heads weren’t on cloud 9 already, Megan was asked to do a guest segment on Indy Style on Channel 8, WISH TV in Indianapolis!

I always love a good challenge, and when I was told I would have about 7 min. to cook up a mushroom dish I knew I had to get creative! Most of my ingredients I pick up from local farmers markets or roadside veggie stands and with the summer heat( index around 105 today in Southern Indiana!) I decided on something local, light and fresh!

Summer Shiitake Lettuce Wraps

The segment went pretty quick, so we wanted to share the recipe and some easy spins on it for left overs or to accommodate special dietary needs. We used fresh mushrooms from the Hoosier Mushroom Company Shiitake Home Harvester.

Hoosier Mushroom Company Summer Shiitake Lettuce Wrap

4-5 Fresh Shiitake mushrooms (stem removed)

• Substitute 1 oz Shiitake Mushroom dried (soaked in warm water for 20-30 min to reconstitute)

1 medium onion (chopped)

1 medium green pepper (sliced)

1 medium red pepper (sliced-yellow or orange can also be used)

2 oz water chestnuts (sliced)

¼ medium jicima (peeled and cubed)

• Jicima is also known as the Mexican turnip and but has a sweet taste.   It can be eaten raw, cooked and is an excellent source of potassium and Vitamin C, is low in sodium and contains no fat

½ cup bean sprouts

• Tip: If you cook the sprouts, add more as they will become smaller after moisture is cooked off- the contain significant amounts of protein, vitamin C and essential B vitamins.

Handful of grape tomatoes (quartered)

1 bunch leafy lettuce

• Dark greens, like romaine, have more nutrients such as Beta-carotene, Vitamine C, potassium and fiber.

1 carrot (cut into thin strips)

1 Tbsp. ginger

3 garlic clove (minced)

2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbsp. lime juice

2 oz. peanuts (chopped)

Handful fresh cilantro (chopped)

Sesame ginger dressing (or any oriental dressing of preference)

Instructions:

-Soak 1 oz dried shiitakes in warm water for 20-30 min.  Drain and save liquid for future use (can also be frozen)

Or

-If using fresh, remove stem and marinate in oriental dressing for 20-30 min. in fridge, gill side up.  Cut into slices.

-Heat olive oil in skillet or wok

-Add garlic

-Add mushrooms, onions and water chestnuts, half of the peanuts, ginger, sesame seeds and half some cilantro to taste.  Sauté until onions are translucent and mushrooms are soft.

-Rinse lettuce and remove from base; be sure to remove any of the bitter white part at the end.

-Combine ingredients as desired and enjoy! You can cook up the peppers, sprouts and jicima with the mushrooms or eat raw for a fresh, crunchy taste.  Extra dressing, peanuts and cilantro can be added as desired too!

Tips, tricks, swaps and short cuts:

This recipe is very versatile; I like to think of it as Mexican meets Oriental cuisine by combining the cilantro and jicima with the ginger and sesame.

You can cook up all the ingredients for a warm wrap, add beef, chicken or tofu and can also use the leftovers and serve over rice and add some items you have sitting in your pantry  or freezer like canned pineapple, mandarin oranges or sugar peas.  You can also go another direction by marinating in your favorite Italian or Greek and substituting ingredients to compliment each cuisine such as olives, parmesan or feta cheese, cucumber etc.

I’ve made a similar sauté and served over pork, poultry, and even pasta with some olive oil and cilantro. This is a great dish to get creative with!

If you want to add salt to the dish for taste, wait until the end of the sauté as it will pull moisture from the mushrooms.

Don’t wash fresh mushrooms; wipe them with a damp cloth. You do not want to add moisture to the mushroom by washing.

In addition to their great taste, affordability when hunting your own, and health benefits, mushrooms are essentially a zero waste produce.  The can be dried for future use with a shelf life (10-12 months).  Also, when re hydrating the dried mushrooms, the warm water they are soaked in can be used as a liquid component for a recipe or even frozen for later use.  For the shiitake, the stem can be saved after removal for use to infuse stocks, broths or consume.

.  Benefits of mushrooms:

Besides being low in sodium, fat, and calories, most mushrooms contain:

• Fiber
• Potassium
• Protein
• antioxidant
• Vitamin D
• Niacin (an important B vitamin)
• Cancer-fighting ingredients
• Zinc

Benefits of Shiitake Mushroom:

The medical benefits of the Shiitake mushroom have been well documented and widely researched.  These include:

• Anti-bacterial
• Anti-tumor
• Anti-viral
• Blood pressure reducer
• Blood sugar reducer
• Cholesterol reducers
• Immune system booster
• Kidney detoxifier
• Liver detoxifier
• Stress reducer