Most people tend to think of mushrooms as an ingredient, rather than a side dish unto themselves, but it’s quite easy to elevate them to a more worthy status. (Not to mention make them super tasty.)
I know you’re not supposed to wash mushrooms directly in water, but the whole rubbing-with-a-wet-rag thing just doesn’t get them clean in my experience. Plus it takes way more work, and who wants that? I just make sure I rinse them really fast, so there’s no chance for the little guys to absorb any water.
I like using whole mushrooms and quartering them, but you could buy sliced ones if you’d rather. I’m just too lazy to stab half a dozen mushroom pieces onto my fork with each bite, is what it really boils down to.
That’s 8 ounces of mushrooms in my pan, by the way (just one of those standard pint containers.) Start sauteeing them with a good amount of olive oil, maybe 2 Tablespoons. Don’t worry if the pan is a little overcrowded, because they’re going to shrink a lot.
Meanwhile, prepare the marinade in a little side cup. Mix up 1 Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar with 1 teaspoon of Grey Poupon dijon mustard. [As always, the brands I use were GFCF at the time of posting, but manufacturers can change their formulas without warning. Always check your labels!] I’m a huge fan of Grey Poupon, in case you couldn’t tell. Sure, they had dumb ads in the 80s, but they had a point: the taste really is superior to those bourgeoisie brown mustards.
It’s also a good time to mention that while most vinegars in general are gluten-free, the one kind that is not safe is malt vinegar, because it’s made with barley. (Balsamic vinegar is made with grapes, rice vinegar is made with rice, etc.) If the word “malt” is ever anywhere in an ingredient list, it isn’t safe unless it specifies that it is corn malt (which is uncommon.)
When the mushrooms are done, just pour in the marinade and continue to cook for another minute or two so it can thicken.
And that’s it! These things have the perfect amount of tang to them, my kids love them. The flavor goes especially well with fresh tomatoes, by the way. If you want to be really fancy you could even cut off the tomato tops and scoop out the insides with a spoon to make a little tomato bowl for the mushrooms. But crudely dicing them up and tossing them haphazardly on the plate works too.
Happy Eating!
Sauteed Mushrooms
8 oz. mushrooms
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 tsp grey poupon
diced tomato (optional)
A lot of kids won’t eat mushrooms. If they were introduced to your mushrooms, it would be a lot less… outstanding.