Awesome Mushroom Munchy - Bunashimeji

Bunashimeji Mushroom Munchie

I have this nearly every morning for breakfast.

It is exceedingly simple if you have all of the ingredients.

Take a bundle of Bunashimeji mushrooms, trim off the bottom "roots"

Put that into a microwaveable container (I use a small wooden bowl).

Put about a tablespoon or so of Kappo Shirodashi

Put about a teaspoon of strong lime or lemon juice

Cover the bowl in plastic wrap.

Microwave for two minutes.

The result tastes much like meat and is completely satisfying as a meal.

I figure it has about 35 calories total.

For the citrus, I use "Citron" sauce, from a nearby Asian market.

Kappo Shirodashi is made of Soy sauce, bonito extract, mushroom extract, seaweed extract, sugar, salt, sweet sake and monosodium glutamate. Basically, it's "fish sauce".

shannon norrell

Fantastic Fennel

This is a vegetarian dish that is very low in fat (and calories) but very big on taste!

You could actually use the results as a topper over pasta (used like spaghetti sauce) or, as is my preference, can be eaten alone as guilt-free main dish.

2/3 Red Onion, diced
1 large Fennel root, chopped into pieces like the onion
1-2 Apples, also diced
1 tbs Minced Garlic
1 tsp Dried Chipotle Pepper
1-2 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Tomato Paste

Coat the bottom of your pan with Extra-Virgin olive oil.
Get the oil hot. (until it steams)
Throw about a cup and a half of (2/3rds of a large) chopped red onion into the oil
Stir the onion until it gets clear.
Add 1 tbs of minced garlic, stir that into the mix for maybe a minute.
Add the large diced Fennel Root to the mix.
Depending on how dry the Fennel is, you may need to add a bit more olive oil at this point.
Cook the Fennel until it too, starts to get clear. (this should take about five minutes total)
During this process, you should get some small burning from the onion as it caramelizes. This is good because this is flavor.
Add a generous amount of cracked black pepper. Personally, I use about two teaspoons.
Add about 1 tsp of dried Chipotle Pepper. This stuff is red, like Paprika.
About four minutes into the cooking of the fennel, add the chopped Apples.
When the Fennel looks relatively clear, add about 1/4 cup of tomato sauce to the mix.
You will need to add water to reconstitute the Tomato sauce. I usually just put the pan under the faucet and give it a squirt.
For me, I try not to get it too "soupy" and add just enough water to get the tomato paste thin enough to stir into the other ingredients.

Use tomato paste if you can as that has the lowest salt content of all of the canned tomato products. If you want to use fresh tomatoes, that's great, but you will have to add 3/4 tsp of salt to the mix as the tomato paste is what gives the recipe its salt.


Shannon Norrell