Shiitake Mushroom Adventure

I was given a shiitake mushroom log at Christmas. I was pretty excited because I have never grown mushrooms before. And it came at the perfect time - the weather was cold and rainy, and our garage provided the perfect environment to grow the 'shrooms. The log grows inside a plastic bag, so it has stayed moist even as our days and air have become drier.

The other day, I picked our first crop - a bumper - and made this delicious stew with the winter vegetables I have in our fridge.

I often buy fresh shiitake mushrooms at the Hollywood Farmers Market. They are dark brown and thin-capped and very mushroom-y in flavor. The shiitakes I picked off our log are white and sweet - a different taste altogether and quite eye-opening. It's like the difference between a supermarket tomato and a home-grown tomato, but more so.

My first harvest!

I cut the caps from the stems and dried the stems on a rack on the kitchen counter to go into my next batch of vegetable stock. The caps added great flavor to this simple vegetable dish.

The key sauce ingredient in the stew is nutritional yeast. This is a good source of B vitamins and a vegan source of cheese-flavor. I'm told it's also good on popcorn, but I have yet to try that.

Vegetable Stew
1/3 cup chickpeas
1/2 lb Brussels sprouts
2 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and bashed
4 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
1 carrot, cut in large matchsticks
3 cups packed chopped green curly kale
1 cup water
1/4 cup tamari (natural soy sauce)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Cook the chickpeas in plenty of simmering water until tender, 2-4 hours depending on the age of the beans. Drain and set aside.

Trim the Brussels sprouts and cut them in half. Steam them about 5 minutes until tender and bright green. Set aside.

Shiitake log in its plastic bag

Warm oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, squash and carrot. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add chickpeas and kale. Cook stirring often, until kale is bright green, 1-2 minutes. Stir in Brussels sprouts. Reduce heat to medium low.

Whisk together water, tamari and nutritional yeast in a small bowl. Pour over the vegetables in the skillet. Stir and cover. Remove from the heat and let stand 1-2 minutes for the flavors to blend.

Serve on brown rice.

Serves 4