Put a little Fungi in your Food

Last week at the Greenmarket, Colin from The Tasting Room stopped by and dropped off a basket of fungi for Kira. She took one look, said, “Mushrooms make me sick!” and passed them on to me. This easy meal combines the meaty texture of these locally-grown porcini mushrooms with an array of orange and green vegetables–a perfect combination of vitamins.

As always with stir-fry, I put the long-cooking veggies in first (garlic, ginger, carrots, sweet potato). As they caramelized, I put the fat, fresh pac choi greens and delicate springtime broccoli florets. I added cubed yellow summer squash, putting down a lid and letting its steam do most of the cooking. For sweetness, I added some raisins; for crunch, almonds. Cooked in olive oil and dressed with a minimal dash of salt, you can experiment with spices–I chose to cut fresh ginger and my own garden garlic (soft, juicy spring bulbs pack a lot of flavor!), and then at the last minute, added some garam masala.

Colin gave me the quick low-down on cooking mushrooms. Wash them well–they don’t absorb as much water as you’d think, as they’re already almost as high in water content as a banana! Per his instructions, I placed them in the pan when I added the greens, letting them cook only briefly (one-two minutes) until they were easily pierced with a knife. They took in the garlic flavor easily without losing their own warm, earthy taste. He recommends butter; I used olive oil. As always, the fresher–the better. Locally grown mushrooms are more likely to be fresh, have the soft-strong texture that is so uniquely theirs, and, although expensive, pack more flavor per bite than store-bought, long-traveling mushrooms.