Cheap and Healthy Vegetarian Recipes: Button Mushroom Recipes

3 Easy Button Mushroom Recipes

red pepper, onion and chopped mushrooms
from Pixabay.com

These are 3 cheap vegetarian recipes cooked from one bargain buy of button mushrooms. Living frugally and cooking for one can be a challenge but if you are shopping savvy you can cook ahead and make delicious meals you just have to reheat from your freezer.  Using a box of button mushrooms I found in a local supermarket for 99p, a yellow peppers (capsicums), onions and potatoes I came up with 3 recipes: 'Mushroom and Lentil Soup' - 'Mushroom and Pepper Bake' - I had some extra yellow pepper and potatoes left after assembling the bake so make a 'Mushroom, Chickpeas and Ginger Rice'

Mushrooms are one of my favourite vegetables, they are quick to cook, there are many varieties and they mix well with just about anything. Like many people money is tight for me so I do my best to be a frugal shopper, that is to buy what I need and to avoid waste. I like to pick up bargains in the supermarket so when I found a huge box of mushrooms for under £1, I took them home. Of course, the important thing to do is to make sure you cook up your bargains immediately so you don't end up throwing them out. How I cope is by cooking in batches, dividing them into meal sized portions and freezing them to produce delicious, healthy ready-made meals.  As well as being tasty and cheap, mushrooms are a healthy addition to your diet. They are very low in calories being practically free of fat. They also contain several useful vitamins and minerals including potassium, riboflavin and niacin from the Vit b complex, vit D, folic acid and copper. 

Cooking in batches

Frugal cooking

When I am cooking in batches, I often use one recipe to compliment another. For example, for the mushroom bake I only used the caps of the button mushrooms, so I added the stalks to the soup and I used the stock water I used for par-boiling the potatoes to cook the extra mushroom, pepper and potatoes for the last dish then added it to the soup, the starch from the potatoes helped to thicken it. .

Mushroom and lentil soup

MUSHROOM AND LENTIL SOUP

Lentils add protein to meals and red lentils are particularly handy for cooking since they don't need any preparations - unlike most beans and pulses.

I like to use tomatoes in this for the colour as well as the taste - I find the colour of soup made with button mushrooms can be a bit dull.

Soups are great for making sure you get plenty of nutrients into your diet with very little effect and you can ring the changes. Try adding different herbs to this one and see how different it becomes.

Add a dollop of yoghurt or feta cheese just as you are about to serve it.

• Prep time: 10 min
• Cook time: 30 min
• Ready in: 40 min
• Yields: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 red onion - diced
• 1 large potatoe - diced. The potato thickens the soup.
• 8 oz button mushrooms - cleaned and roughly broken into chunks
• 2 -3 cloves of garlic - crushed
• 10 cherry tomatoes - you can peel them if you prefer
• I don't bother. To peel soak in boiling water.
• 1 litre vegetable stock (broth)
• handful of red lentils - washed
• black pepper
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Fry onions in the oil until they are soft and beginning to become transparent.
3. Add the potatoes, mushrooms and garlic and mix well.
4. Cover with a lid and 'sweat' for 5 minute.
5. Add stock, tomatoes, lentils, pepper and salt.
6. Bring to the boil.
7. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
8. Remove from heat - using a hand or stick blender - roughly blend the soup leaving some mushrooms and potatoes whole.
9. Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Mushroom and pepper bake

Low fat vegetarian recipe - Mushroom and pepper bake

Being a 'lady of a certain age' I am always on the look for tasty recipes that are low in calories. This one has very little fat which makes it ideal for anyone who is watching their weight.

Casseroles are one of my favourite meals to cook since it can all be done in one go.

This will freeze very well.

• Prep time: 20 min
• Cook time: 2 hours 10 min
• Ready in: 2 hours 30 min
• Yields: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cal Spray oil
• 1 large red onion cut into rings
• 6 ounces button mushrooms - clean
• remove stalks but keep the cap whole
• 1 large yellow pepper sliced into rings
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 large potatoes - sliced and par boiled in boiling water and 1 stock cube for 7 minutes - save the stock
• 1/2 pint of vegetable gravy (rather than stock)
• black pepper and salt to you taste

Instructions

1. Pre heat oven to moderate heat
2. Coat a casserole or oven-proof dish with the 1 cal spray oil.
3. Place half the slice par-boiled potatoes on the bottom on the dish.
4. Add the button mushroom caps.
5. Sprinkle with crushed garlic.
6. Add onions rings and yellow pepper rings.
7. Season with black pepper and salt.
8. Add gravy.
9. Top with the rest of the potatoes.
10. Cover with foil.
11. Cook in the center of a moderate oven for 2 hours.
12. Remove foil and cook until the top is brown.
13. Serve with green vegetables. I used raw sugar fat peas because I like to include some raw food every day - try it you might surprise yourself.

Mushroom and chickpeas and Ginger Rice

Easy vegetable recipe - Mushroom & Chickpeas with Ginger Rice

This is what I call a no-measure recipe, I use whatever comes to hand, usually bits and pieces of left overs. You can change it around with whatever you have on hand.

It is really quick and makes a great dish for lunch or supper.

I prepare a whole bag of dried chickpeas, divide it into portions and freeze them so I have them on hand to add to any dish.

Cook Time

Prep Time: 10

Total Time: 20-30 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 red onion
• strips of yellow pepper
• slices of potatoes
• button mushrooms diced
• stock from par-boiled potatoes
• handful of cooked chickpeas
• cup full of rice
• slivers of fresh ginger

Instructions

1. Put the vegetables, chickpeas and stock in a pan and boil for a few minutes until the vegetables are soft.
2. Boil the rice in water until nearly soft.
3. Just before it is ready add the slivers of ginger.
4. Drain the rice and rinse with boiling water to remove excess starch.
5. Serve the vegetables on the rice.