For those of you who know me well, you would likely never guess that I would post a recipe based on mushrooms.  I used to hate mushrooms.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like the taste.  In actuality, I never ate them so I didn’t really know whether they tasted good to me or not.  They looked weird to me.  They were a fungus.  They had a strange texture.  Any excuse that I could come up with to not eat them definitely could be heard coming from my mouth.  So now, after a little more than a year of being a vegetarian, I amaze myself each time that I cook with, eat, and even crave mushrooms.  What can I say, changing my eating habits and lifestyle has altered my taste-buds and created a whole new me!  And I am definitely liking this new me .  The new me (who likes mushrooms, now) was craving mushrooms about a week ago.  And not just any mushrooms….

…Veggie Stuffed Mushrooms

*I created these with inspiration from both The Happy Herbivore Abroad cookbook and this recipe.

Servings: 2 for a meal, or 4 for appetizers (makes 16 mushrooms, in total)

Ingredients

1 16 oz package of whole white mushrooms
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 small yellow onion, diced finely
1/2 red bell pepper, diced finely
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped finely
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
black pepper, to taste
salt, to taste
2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp oregano
EVOO cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems.

2. Line a medium skillet with vegetable broth.  Heat over medium-high heat until the broth is very hot.

3. Lower the heat to medium.  Add onions, peppers, and garlic to the skillet.  Cook for approximately 7-8 minutes, or until the onions and peppers have softened.

4. Add seasonings to the onion, pepper, and garlic mixture, and stir until well-combined.

5. Add spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted.

6. Remove the skillet from the heat.  Add bread crumbs and stir to combine.

7. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with EVOO cooking spray.

8. Stuff each mushroom with the vegetable mixture and add them to the baking dish.

 

 

 

 

 

9. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to brown.  Do not let them cook too long, or they will become too soft and mushy.

 

 

 

 

 

And so, the girl who used to be afraid of mushrooms, can now say that eating mushrooms can be so delicious.  I was absolutely loving these Veggie Stuffed Mushrooms.

 

 

 

 

 

The seasonings that I used in creating this recipe are very Italian-inspired, so I chose to dip the mushrooms in pizza sauce.  You could also try marinara sauce.  Both would be equally delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

This healthy, low-calorie vegan* recipe is a fabulous way to incorporate numerous vegetables into your diet.  And, the fact that incorporating nutrient-rich vegetables into your diet can be so delicious is just an added bonus .

*These Veggie Stuffed Mushrooms are vegan, but if you are not eating vegan then you could certainly add grated or shredded parmesan cheese to the vegetable filling mixture.

What types of food do you “not like” simply because they look weird or “scare” you?