Do you grow mushrooms at home?

Rather than another video game, I bought my nephew a few mushroom logs for Christmas.

You may think that’s an odd gift to give a teenager, but he absolutely LOVED it!

He followed the easy directions and the mushrooms started growing within the first few days. We didn’t have to wait longer than a week to harvest our first batch.

 

Which is good because, as you know, attention spans are mighty short these days.

So, I’ve been using the homegrown shiitakes we harvested in my favorite recipes.

If you want to try growing some mushrooms, here is where I bought the organic mushroom logs.

And, if you have no desire to grow your own mushrooms, but still want some yummy shiitake recipes, here are my faves…

Enjoy!

Sauteed Shiitakes and Brassica Veggies

Shiitake mushrooms, like most mushrooms, have a savory and meaty, or umami flavor. Especially, when they are prepared properly.

Simply add a little bit of water plus tamari or soy sauce, combined with the oil, and your mushrooms will be savory, easy to chew, and totally delish!

Silky Mushroom Soup with Shiitake Bacon

In this yummy recipe, I used cremini mushrooms for the base and shiitakes for the garnish.

Shiitake mushrooms are pretty special when it comes to overall health and vitality.

For centuries they have been a healing food in Asian cuisine and modern science confirms this. Shiitakes heal chromosome damage caused by anti-cancer treatments, boost immunity, reduce cholesterol and support cardiovascular health, have hypolipidaemic effects that promote weight loss, and are a good source of vitamin d.

Those are some pretty darn good reasons to eat them.

Healing Broth with Shiitake Mushrooms

And, last but not least, we have one of my favorite healing broths, especially when it comes to virus season.

Shiitakes are packed with B vitamins and vitamin D (if they are sun-dried). They contain copper, one of the few metal elements essential to human health.

They have anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties, and they are rich in lentinan that heals chromosome damage and fights cancer.

Get some of this delicious healing broth into your belly!