Raw Vegan Marinated Portobello Mushrooms
I absolutely love mushrooms cooked, but can't stand them raw. So when I decided to start eating more raw food, I was missing my mushrooms! Or having to eat them cooked. I've tried a few different raw vegan recipes featuring mushrooms, like stuffed mushrooms, and while it was better than eating them plain (yuck), I still didn't really love them. I figured my best chance for creating a raw mushroom dish that I loved was to use my dehydrator.
If you want to eat a raw vegan diet, but you still love the taste of cooked food, a dehydrator will save you. Keep the temperature setting at 115 degrees F or below, and you won't destroy any of the important enzymes in raw food, but the warmth is enough to change the texture and taste of the food, similar to cooking at higher temperatures. In the case of mushrooms, these are every bit as delicious as sauteed mushrooms.
Ingredients:
200g portobello mushrooms
5 tbsp (100ml) virgin cold-pressed olive oil
1 small clove garlic
1 small lemon
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp rosemary (fresh if possible)
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt (more or less to taste)
Instructions:
Brush any debris off the mushrooms and cut into slices about 1 cm (1/4 inch) thick. If you have a Pyrex baking dish that will fit in the tray slots of your dehydrator that works best, otherwise the teflex sheets will be fine, you just may need to add a bit more olive oil. Put the mushroom slices in the baking dish if you have one, otherwise put them into a bowl.
Crush or mince the garlic as fine as possible. Add to the bowl with mushrooms. Strip the rosemary leaves off if using fresh rosemary and chop as fine as possible. Add to the bowl with mushrooms, along with all the olive oil and other spices.
Using your fingers toss the mushroom slices in the oil and spices until the mushroom slices are evenly coated. The portobello will absorb the olive oil, you may need to add more if you still have any ‘dry' patches.
If you are using a baking dish, spread the mushrooms evenly over the bottom of the dish and insert it into the tray slots of your dehydrator. Otherwise, spread the mushrooms evenly over a teflex sheet and insert the tray into the dehydrator.
Mushrooms tossed in olive oil and spices before dehydrating
Turn on the dehydrator and set the temperature at 115 F (45C). Check on them occasionally, to mix and add more olive oil if they are getting too dried out. In about 2-4 hours your mushrooms will be done and ready to eat. You'll have to do some taste testing to see when they are right for you. When they are getting close to done, squeeze some fresh lemon juice over them.
Marinated Portobello Mushrooms After Warming In Dehydrator
Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.
Serves 2-3
These sound really good! I just got some Himalayan sea salt and I think I’ll try it out in this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jessica. Oh they are good! I think so anyway, let me know what you think. It’s easy to play around with the spices in a recipe like this, use what you have or what you are in the mood for. A bit of cayenne if you like them hot. Sustainable Sourcing, what a beautiful site! With beautiful products. I love that they are wind powered too! Thanks for letting me know about them, I’d never come across them before.
Love love love Portobello mushrooms!
Can’t wait to try this variation.
Sounds delicious.
Hi Corinne, me too! I love wild mushrooms even more. We live rurally, and they pop up all over the place – woohoo!
I am not a mushroom lover, but I eat them because of their nutritional value. I hear a lot about “enzymes” in food. Where are studies I can read about the benefit of and names of these enzymes. By enzymes do you mean co-factors?
Hi Bruce, sorry it took me a few days to answer. I had to do some research, I’d heard of co-factors but I wasn’t really sure what they were. So here’s what I’ve come up with. They are not the same, but they are related in that some enzymes require co-factors in order to do their work of biochemical transformation.
Enzymes are a type of protein molecule. They act as catalysts in chemical reactions to convert certain types of molecules into different molecuses. In the case of digestion, they help to convert, for instance, starches into sugars. They can also help to break down proteins, and other substances so that we can digest them.
Most enzymes can be denatured by heating, a process which disrupts the structure of the enzyme and leaves them inactivated. For some enzymes this process is irreversible. The enzymes necessary for breaking down the food we eat are found in the body, the saliva, pancreas and throughout the digestive system. But as I understand it, when we also get enzymes in the food we eat that assists the digestive enzymes in the breakdown of the food substances making the whole digestive process far less taxing on the body. Digestion is one of the most energy-intensive things we do on a daily basis. So if we can help the body in some way during the digestive process we can free up significant amounts of energy. I definitely notice the difference. I have what I’d call a sluggish digestive system compared to some people (who seem to have faster metabolisms in general). The food I eat takes much longer to digest (compared to these fast metabolizers) and it saps my energy for so much longer. When I eat a raw food meal, I really notice the difference – for me it’s a significant difference. I don’t experience the lethargy that comes after eating cooked foods, I can get out and do physical exercise even though I’ve eaten till full, I have more energy throughout the whole day. That last point I think is not just because of the energy I ‘save’ during digestion but also because I’m getting more nutrients (not destroying them through cooking).
Cofactors are non-protein helper molecules which assist the enzymes. Not all enzymes need cofactors to do their job. For the ones that do the cofactors need to be bound to the enzyme in order for the enzyme to do it’s job.
I’m not sure about where you can get studies on the enzymes. I’ll stay on the lookout though and post any information I find.
Try them dehydrated (but don’t dehydrate till they’re dried out) and when they are half way done deydrating smother them in pesto. DELICIOUS!
Yum! Great suggestion about smothering them with pesto Ann, thank you!
I love mushrooms and this recipe is really healthy. Thanks for sharing!
Peter
A note from my mom: it’s cheaper to order the log thruogh Amazon and it comes from the same place. Good tip.It comes already pregnant (hee hee!) with mushrooms. You can see lots of places where they will grow from. You “shock” it by putting it in cold water for 24 hours, and then mushrooms will start to grow in the next few days. After harvesting them, you have to let it sit for about 6 weeks, soaking it a couple times in regular water, and then you can shock it again and make it produce more mushrooms. Supposedly it will produce mushrooms for years to come! We shall see!