Cook’s notes
My firstborn, Sam, went vegetarian for a few years and, the first few weeks that I attempted to cook meatless dishes for her, I wanted to bang my head against the wall.
Having been mostly carnivorous all our lives, to say it wasn’t easy would be a huge understatement. It was hard. It took me months to understand what makes ameatlessmeal appetizing but, eventually, I got the hang of it.
Sam is off the vegetarian diet (she eats poultry, seafood and beef now) but there are meatless dishes I cooked in the past that I don’t mind making again. This lemon garlic mushrooms is one of them. Serve as an appetizer or side dish, or as a main course over mock saffron rice.
Why mock saffron rice? Because turmeric and paprika were substituted for the ultra-pricey saffron.
For the mock saffron rice, cook one-and-a-half cups of rice with one-half teaspoon turmeric powder and one-half teaspoon paprika.
The following recipe yields enough for two if served as a main dish. It’s enough for four if served as a side dish.
Lemon garlic mushrooms over mock saffron rice
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup roughly chopped celery
- ½ cup roughly chopped carrot
- ½ cup roughly chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 to 3 cups baby button mushrooms
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat two tablespoons of butter and the olive oil in a pan.
- Over medium heat, saute the celery, carrot, onion and garlic until softened.
- Add the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir.
- Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook everything for about ten minutes.
- Off the heat, squeeze the juice of half a lemon directly over the dish. Add the remaining butter and swirl the pan around to blend the flavors.
- Taste the lemon garlic mushrooms and add more lemon juice, salt and pepper, as needed.
- Serve as an appetizer or side dish, or as a main course over mock saffron rice.
Spanish garlic chicken (pollo al ajillo)