mushroom – #ThisGirlEats

RECIPE: White Wine Mushroom Sauce | #ThisGirlEats

Sometimes cooking is exhausting but, for me, it’s always a labour of love – like this luxuriously creamy white wine mushroom sauce made from some of my all-time favourite ingredients!

Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This white wine mushroom sauce cost me less than 75p per person
What are the benefits? This dish contains at least one of your five a day, is fairly low in sugar and makes a lovely veggie sauce to accompany your meal.

I love mushrooms, okay? I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea and, quite frankly, I’m sick of arguing about it. Please just accept that I love them unconditionally, could eat them every single day of my life and think they are a culinary gift from the gods. I will not be taking any further questions at this time, thank you.

Luckily, there are some like-minded people out there who also appreciate these little earthy nuggets of flavour and will (hopefully!) enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

I know that, at times, a withering glance towards the kitchen at the end of a long, hard day can fill us with dread and despair. The thought of having to interrupt our well-earned rest, peel ourselves off the sofa and drag our heels into the kitchen can be a real slog. But it can also be joyous when you love your ingredients and can’t wait for the end result.

For me, this recipe was one of those. I’d stocked up the fridge and set aside the time but, when it came to it, I honestly just couldn’t be bothered to get off my butt and actually do some cooking. Thankfully, the thought of putting in basically ten minutes of effort to then indulge in a lavish plate of thick, rich, creamy mushroom sauce was, in the end, totally worth it.

INGREDIENTS
1 Onion, Finely Chopped
4 Mushrooms, Sliced
50ml White Wine
100ml Vegetable Stock
100ml Double Cream
2 tbsp Crème Fraîche
1 tsp Plain Flour
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp Soy Sauce

SEASONING

This is a pretty quick sauce and doesn’t take much time to turn around, so all you need to do is chuck in a little dried garlic (fresh if you prefer) at first, shortly followed by dried parsley (fresh if you prefer), ground coriander, salt and pepper along with the rest of the ingredients.

HOW TO MAKE WHITE WINE MUSHROOM SAUCE

1. In a large pan with a drop of oil or cooking spray, gently cook the onions and mushrooms on a medium heat with the garlic for 5 minutes.

2. Turn up the heat, add the white wine and simmer on a high heat until the wine is reduced – this should only take a minute or so.

3. Add the vegetable stock, double cream, crème fraîche, flour, mustard, soy sauce, parsley, ground coriander, salt and pepper.

4. Simmer for around 5 minutes until the sauce thickens, then serve up as soon as it’s ready!

RECIPE: Cheese and Mushroom Stack Burgers | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This recipe cost me less than 75p per person.
What are the benefits? These burgers are perfectly vegetarian-friendly, not to mention they are high in both protein and fibre.

If you’ve ever checked out my Instagram feed you’ll know I love a good burger. Almost every time we go out to eat and I take a sneaky insta snap, it’s pretty much always a fat burger on my plate. Perhaps I need to shake things up a bit… 🍔

I’ve taken my love for burgers here and steered it in a whole new direction to create a delicious alternative with a little more nutritional “oomph“. There’s still the lovely, gooey, melty cheese oozing out 🧀 but the mushrooms make up for all that – they count towards your ‘Five A Day’, they’re high in fibre and protein, and they’re an awful lot lower in fat than your traditional beef burger. So there!

Shopping at our local ASDA, I picked up the ingredients for this recipe for £1.38, which totals at just 69p per person. Compared to even the cheapest burgers (McDonald’s saver menu, here’s looking at you!) that’s a bargain! It’s also very quick and easy to make, with just a few ingredients available at many shops and supermarkets.

INGREDIENTS
4 Large Flat Mushrooms
4 Slices of Low Fat Cheddar Cheese
2 Burger Buns

SEASONING
Season the mushrooms with a good pinch of salt and pepper – and that’s it!

So, this is how I did it…

1. Season the mushrooms and grill each on one side for about 5 minutes – I’ve got a tabletop grill which is really handy, but an oven grill works perfectly fine.

2. Once the mushrooms have cooked on one side, flip them over and layer up in a stack with the cheese (one mushroom, one slice of cheese, second mushroom, second slice of cheese). Pop the stacks back under the grill for a further 5 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked through and cheese has melted.

3. Remove from the heat and serve in a soft burger roll with any extra toppings you fancy.

Tips & Tricks

Stilton isn’t my cup of tea so I stuck with plain ol’ cheddar for my mushroom stacks, but blue cheese would go really well with this if you like that kind of thing.

Grilling always helps drain excess fat from whatever you’re cooking, but you can cook the mushrooms in a frying pan instead and it works just as well.

Try using aubergine 🍆 or beef tomatoes 🍅 to experiment with different veggie stacks!

RECIPE: Mushroom and Halloumi Deli Rolls | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 1
How much does this cost? This recipe cost me less than 50p per person.
What are the benefits? The benefits of these deli rolls include being high in both protein and calcium, not to mention being perfectly suitable for vegetarians.

I don’t know about you, but finding something exciting to eat at lunchtimes is a real struggle. But now it’s time for that bland cheese sandwich and powdery soup-in-a-mug to step aside and make room for this absolute beauty.

This recipe is only three ingredients. Three! How great is that?! Just grab yourself a delicious slab of salty halloumi, a handful of rich mushrooms and slice open a soft, seeded roll to make this wonderfully flavourful dish.

It might be just a light lunch, but it’s a real heavyweight when it comes to nutritional brownie points. You’ve got a shed-load of calcium coming from that halloumi and loads of protein from the mushrooms, not to mention you can enjoy this one on ‘Meat-Free Monday’ – and every other day of the week too!

INGREDIENTS
4 Mushrooms, Sliced
1/4 Block of Light Halloumi, Sliced
1 Deli Roll

SEASONING
A light lunch can still be bursting with flavour; just sprinkle a pinch of dried garlic, dried thyme, salt and pepper in with the mushrooms to make this even tastier!

So, this is how I did it…

1. Cook the halloumi – either grill or fry – on a medium heat, for about five minutes on each side.

2. Fry the sliced mushrooms for around 5 minutes on medium-high heat with a tiny drop of oil or cooking spray, until soft.

3. Arrange the halloumi slices in the deli rolls, pile high with delicious fried mushrooms and dig in!

Tips & Tricks!

A few slices of avocado would taste divine with this recipe, and they’d help bump up that nutritional value too 🥑

Wholemeal rolls are going to benefit you even more, if you can get your hands on some!

You could take the exact same ingredients, roll them up in a tortilla and make yourself a yummy lunchtime wrap 🌯

Dinner With… Cooking On A Bootstrap | #ThisGirlEats

Welcome to the first in a short series of #ThisGirlEats blog posts which recreate recipes from some of my favourite online chefs, cooking websites and foodie videos.

I’m always scrolling social media for new recipe inspo (there’s a LOT out there!), some in particular I really love reading (and drooling over). But because I’m always so wrapped up in my own ideas, I don’t often get a chance to actually cook the amazing recipes I find after hours of glorious internet browsing. There are a few that always stick out as producing amazing-looking food time after time, so I’ve decided to try a few recipes from each one and see how things turn out!

Kicking things off is Jack Monroe, bestselling author, creator of the fabulous website Cooking On A Bootstrap and all-round brilliant human being. I’ve been an admirer of Jack’s work for a while now and feel like Cooking On A Bootstrap – a website chocka with affordable family recipes – is a shining light when it comes to low-cost food. I’ve always wondered just how cheap these recipes really are, because they just look too good to be true! So I picked these three to try…

Mushroom Mac ‘n’ Cheese

I love mushrooms (which drives my boyfriend mad but who cares, more for me!) so this was a no-brainier. There’s nothing too complicated here, and it’s a great one for chucking in the oven and forgetting about for 45 minutes. It’s made with very simple, basic ingredients but feels indulgent when you tuck in, with gooey, creamy cheese and heaps of pasta. If you’re being health conscious, it’s easy to switch things up – wholewheat pasta, milk alternative, low fat cheese, etc. I took Jack’s recommendation of adding garlic and it was totally, utterly delicious. Plus, it fed me for one dinner and two lunches, so it’s definitely cost-effective. Recipe here.

Chickpea and Peach Curry

This is an AMAZING find for anyone with a sweet tooth! Some people hate sweet ‘n’ savoury combos (Hawaiian pizza is the height of food controversy, right up there with how to pronounce ‘scone’ and whether chips deserve curry sauce or gravy), but I’m quite partial it myself. This curry is so simple, most ingredients are straight out of a tin with minimal effort required. The whole thing is basically comprised of fruit and vegetables, and it doesn’t need to be spicy at all so makes a great curry for the kids. This one will definitely be making a more regular appearance in my house! Recipe here.

Pork and Prune Burgers

Confession time: I didn’t follow the recipe exactly here. I don’t like prunes, but I swapped them out for chopped apricots instead and it was all good, still super tasty. Again, these were incredibly easy to make – mix together, smush into burgers and cook. Bosh! Done! They’re a seriously scrumptious healthier choice, you don’t miss the beef whatsoever. These burgers are both genuinely affordable and thoroughly enjoyable. We honestly scoffed them down, they barely touched the sides! Recipe here.

* None of the people featured in this little series are affiliated with #ThisGirlEats whatsoever and were not involved in the ‘Dinner With…’ blog posts. It’s just a bit of fun and a chance to try some new recipes!

RECIPE: Mushroom Pesto Pasta | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This recipe cost me just over 50p per person (56p to be exact!).
What are the benefits? You’ll find at least one of your five a day within this recipe, not to mention it’s suitable for vegetarians (as long as the pesto is veggie-friendly!) and is a great source of fibre.

My boyfriend hates mushrooms and, guys, it really annoys me. It’s weird! Okay, I actually know a lot of people who don’t like mushrooms – but they’re weird too! Mushrooms are immense – in a burger, wrap, pasta… embrace the funghi, people! 🍄

This recipe is quick, easy and made up of three essentials – pesto (totally delicious), pasta (the best) and mushrooms (I don’t care what anyone says). Chuck them all in together and you’ve got a pretty good thing going.

Don’t stress about pesto’s fat content – “good” fats from olive oil and pine nuts, both found in pesto, can be great for your cholesterol, heart and blood pressure. On top of that, this dish also contains three different vegetables (please don’t start with that whole “but tomatoes are a fruit!” thing, you know what I mean) and, made with wholewheat pasta, it’s going to keep you fuller for longer. An easy, hearty, yummy midweek dinner.

INGREDIENTS
6 Medium Mushrooms, Chopped
6 Cherry Tomatoes, Halved
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
140g Wholewheat Pasta
2 tbsp Green Pesto
Handful of Low Fat Grated Cheese
1 tsp Tomato Purée

SEASONING
Lucky for us, pesto does a lot of the work on this one so there isn’t a whole load of effort that goes into seasoning here. Just add a few dried garlic flakes in with the onions, sprinkle over some dried thyme when the mushrooms go in and, as always, finish with a pinch of salt and pepper.

So, this is how I did it…

1. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add enough pasta for two and cook according to packet instructions, usually takes around 10 – 15 minutes.

2. Coat a frying pan with cooking spray or a tiny drop of oil and then add the onion, cooking for only a couple of minutes on a steady medium heat.

3. Add in the mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato purée and a splash of water and fry on a medium-low heat for no longer than 10 minutes, until the veggies are softened and cooked through.

4. Drain the pasta and combine with the vegetables, stirring through a heaped tablespoon or two pesto. Of course, adjust according to taste!

5. Top with grated cheese (and drizzle with a small amount of oil if you wish).

RECIPE: Loaded Beef Burgers | #ThisGirlEats

Afternoon lovelies!

Today I’m giving you the recipe for some incredible beef burgers for a real mid-week feast, loaded with toppings and sauces made with low fat mince and plenty of vegetables to go along with this ultimate dirty burger.

I’m not saying a beefburger is ever going to be the epitome of health but, sometimes, you just bloody well fancy one! This homemade version is piled high with folic acid (onions), fibre (mushrooms) and healthy fats (avocado). Win-win, right?

After a light lunch and a lovely long walk beforehand, I definitely felt as though I’d earned this one – hell, I even had a glass of wine with mine!

INGREDIENTS
250g 12% Fat Beef Mince
1 Onion (half diced to go in with the mince, half sliced as a burger topping)
1/2 Avocado, Sliced
4 Mushrooms, Chopped
2 Wholemeal Burger Buns

SEASONING
I added garlic, mixed herbs, chilli flakes, salt and pepper to the burger, but this is totally up to you – use whatever seasoning you like. I also smothered mine with ketchup and mustard but, again, it’s really up to you!

So, this is how I did it…

1. In a bowl, squish together the mince, chopped onion and seasoning until well combined (this is a little messy so if raw meat makes you squeamish maybe someone can take over for this bit!) Split into two balls and shape into burgers.

2. Once they resemble a burger shape, add them to a hot frying pan with a teeny drop of oil or some cooking spray and cook for roughly 4 – 5 minutes on each side, depending on how rare you like it.

3. When you flip the burgers over, throw the sliced onion and mushrooms into the pan as well to cook alongside the burgers.

4. Now it’s just as simple as putting it all together! Place the burgers in the bun and top with mushroom, onion and avocado, and cram in any salad, sauces or other extras you feel like.

Tips & Tricks!

You could lower the fat content even further if you swap the beef mince for a leaner meat like turkey or pork. Or get rid of the meat altogether and use a meat-free alternative!

Trying to cut down on carbs? Throw out the bun and go for a naked burger! 😳

If you’re having trouble getting the mince to stick, you might want to add a beaten egg while shaping the burgers to help glue it all together – but I’ve always found they work just fine without.