Recipe Central – Grilled Portobello Mushroom with Balsamic (let food be thy medicine)
- Aug 3, 2017
- 4 min read
You say Portabella, I say Portobello. There are many variations in the spelling and pronunciation of this mighty mushroom, but let food be thy medicine, I digress. Long used in both traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine, researchers abroad now recognize and support the use of select medicinal mushrooms (e.g., Cordyceps sinensis, a new generation of mushroom used by pharmaceuticals) for their anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and immune-enhancing properties, appearing promising for both immune disorder and cancer treatment, according to Scientists at The University of Nottingham.
And of the 140,000 species of mushroom-forming fungi, science is only familiar with a marginal 10 percent of its population, according to Paul Stamets, a dedicated mycologist for over thirty years having authored 6 books on mushroom cultivation.
Portobello mushroom is not only low in caloric intake but is also an excellent source of health-promoting nutrients and antioxidants such as ergothioneine (unique to mushrooms), protein, enzymes, and most notoriously B and D vitamins.
Adding mushrooms to your diet is a simple way to boost one’s immunity in cancer prevention with this wholesome yet lip-smacking recipe from our grill to yours.
Total Time: 1 hr 25 min (Prep 35 min / Cook 50 min)
Yield: 4-6 servings
Level: Easy
Ingredients
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil Sea salt 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 4 large Portobello mushrooms
Directions
Preheat grill and conventional oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bow, toss the garlic cloves with tablespoons of the olive oil and some sea salt. Wrap the garlic cloves in tinfoil and place on the tray in the center of the oven. Cook until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 20 to 15 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the balsamic with 3/4 cup of the olive oil and the mustard.
In another medium sized bowl, toss the mushrooms in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with sea salt. Place them, stem-side up, on the hottest part of the grill. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes; you may see liquid starting to emerge from the stem area. Flip to the other side and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer them to a tray and place in the center of the oven. Cook until they are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, an additional 12 to 15 minutes. Season them lightly with sea salt.
Remove the garlic from the oven. Squeeze the garlic pulp out from their skins and whisk it vigorously into the dressing. Arrange the mushrooms on a serving platter and top with the dressing. Serve immediately as the temperature cools rapidly once removed from oven.
Recipe Courtesy of Food Network
BEWARE of picking mushrooms in the wild. There are a number of toxic mushrooms of lethal consequence, and it’s easy to get them confused with edible varieties unless you’re well educated and know exactly what to look for. BUYING ORGANIC or knowing your source intimately is highly recommended as mushrooms are known absorbents heavily concentrated in whatever living conditions they grow – eliciting both pros and cons. The pro? Its absorbency is what gives mushrooms their potency. The con? Mushrooms are known to concentrate heavy metals, as well as air and water pollutants, so healthy growing conditions is a critical factor.
While the jury is still out, some experts suggest [with no conclusive evidence having been introduced into scientific journals mind you] that button mushrooms by and large over the more exotic and expensive varieties, contain a natural substance called agaritines, which has been dubbed an alleged carcinogen. Bear in mind that mushrooms are not the only food presumed to contain trace amounts of suspected carcinogens, or cancer-causing substances. Such substances are also purportedly found in a number of kid-friendly finger foods such as celery, peanuts, and peanut products, as well as salted, pickled, and smoked foods. Acrylamides, which form when certain foods are cooked at high temperature, have also been known to cause tumors in mice and rats. They are found in french fries.
Just how dangerous these natural toxins are remain a mystery. However, there are plenty of new emerging studies refuting such claims to the contrary. More recent lab studies suggest that button mushrooms have more cancer fighting properties over the more expensive-exotic variety such as Shiitake, Cordyceps, Enoki, Maitake, and Reishi, in conflicting research. In groundbreaking animal and lab research conducted at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University, scientists have documented how button mushrooms boost the immune system by increasing the production of proteins that fight disease-causing pathogens.
Another group of scientists at the City of Hope’s Beckman Research Institute in Duarte, California, published a study in Cancer Research that suggests consuming 100 grams of button mushrooms could suppress breast tumor growth in women. The research team concluded: “White button mushrooms may be an important dietary constituent for reducing the incidence of hormone-dependent breast cancer in women.”
Regardless of ongoing debate and rhetoric, while the general public awaits more conclusive and nonpartisanship studies, most experts would agree that button mushrooms do possess more health-promoting benefits over French fries when eaten in moderation.
To learn more about the health-promoting effects of mushrooms, check out www.fungi.com founded by mycologist and author Paul Stamets in 1980.
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