Mushrooms may be small but they shouldn’t be underestimated. They can contain many quality nutrients that should put them on your daily meal or at least weekly meal planner.

• Mushrooms contain about 80 to 90 percent water, and are very low in calories. They have very little sodium and fat, and 8 to 10 percent of the dry weight is fiber. Hence, they are an ideal food for persons following a weight management program or a diet for hypertensives.

• Mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. It also helps maintain the pH levels in the body. One medium portabella mushroom has even more potassium than a banana or a glass of orange juice. One serving of mushrooms also provides about 20 to 40 percent of the daily value of copper, a mineral that has cardioprotective properties.

• Mushrooms are a rich source of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals. Male health professionals who consumed twice the recommended daily intake of selenium cut their risk of prostate cancer by 65 percent. In the Baltimore study on Aging, men with the lowest blood selenium levels were 4 to 5 times more likely to have prostate cancer compared to those with the highest selenium levels.

• The most commonly consumed mushroom in the New Zealand is Agaricus bisporus or the white button mushroom. A. bisporus has two other forms – Crimini or brown mushrooms with a more earthy flavor and firmer texture, and Portabella mushrooms with a large umbrella-shaped cap and meaty flavor.

• All three mushrooms, but especially the fresh button mushrooms, possess substances that inhibit the activity of aromatase (an enzyme involved in estrogen production), and 5-alpha-reductase (an enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT). The latest findings show that white button mushrooms can reduce the risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer. An extract of white button mushrooms decreased cell proliferation and decreased tumor size in a dose-dependent manner. The chemoprotective effect can be seen with an intake of about 100 grams  of mushrooms per day.

• Shiitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese to treat colds and flu. Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the fruiting body of shiitake mushrooms, appears to stimulate the immune system, help fight infection, and demonstrates anti-tumor activity.

• Add mushrooms to soups, salads, and sandwiches, casseroles, stews or to use them as an entree or addition to any main meal. Check out this recipe below;

Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

These add a hearty side to any meal.

INGREDIENTS

• 2/3 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 4 (5-6″ diameter) portobello mushroom caps
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
• low fat cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the grill.

In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, mozzarella, 1/2 teaspoon of the olive oil, rosemary, pepper and garlic.

Using a knife, remove the stems and discard.Try get the mushroom quite level.

In a small bowl, mix 1/2 teaspoon of the olive oil, lemon juice and soy sauce. Using a pastry brush, brush the soy sauce mixture on both sides of the mushroom caps.

Grill the caps, stem side down first for 5 minutes on each side or until soft.Spoon 1/4 cup of the tomato and cheese mixture into each cap, cover and grill for about 3 minutes or until cheese has melted. Garnish with cilantro.

Serves 4.

Pancakes and fritters; two great ways to stuff abunch of ingredients in a batter and fry it up for a quick meal or snack. Both pancakes and fritters use the same basic ingredients of flour, milk and eggs to make a batter. However pancakes are generally made thinner than fritters (hence pan cakes), fritters tend to be bulkier with more ingredients and less batter. You can make both these options very healthy by just choosing the right set of ingredients. For example boosting the fibre content by swapping white flour to wholemeal and even add wheatgerm or bran to the mixture. Instead of adding sugar to pancake mixture, add fruit like apple puree, blueberries, raisins or chopped dates. A lovely breakfast option is mashed banana and date pancakes served with low fat plain or vanilla yoghurt.

Recipe:

1 well- mashed banana
1/2 cup finely chopped dates
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup trim milk
1Tb flaxseed oil (optional- to boost omega 3 intake)

Mix together and dollop about 2Tb of mixture onto a non stick frying pan on med heat (or use a bit of spray oil) and pan fry for about 2mins on each side or until golden brown.
Serve with low fat plain yoghurt or vanilla. Makes about 6-8 pancakes
You can also make savoury pancakes-

Breakfast pancakes – Baked beans and creamy corn;

1 tin creamy corn
1/2-3/4 tin baked beans
2Tb tomato sauce
1 beaten egg
1 cup wholemeal flour
(don’t need salt as there is enough sodium in the baked beans and creamy rice for flavour)

Mix together and dollop about 2Tb of mixture onto a non stick frying pan on med heat (or use a bit of spray oil) and pan fry for about 2mins on each side or until golden brown.
The mixture makes about 10 pancakes.
Fritters are great to stuff a bunch of healthy ingredients in and you can’t really go wrong with the combinations. For example corn fritters are a classic so you can use a  tin of creamy corn as a base and then add in peas, grated carrot or zucchini, mushrooms, ham or tomato. You can get adventurous with spinach and feta cheese fritters.

Mixed vege fritters;

1 tin standard corn
1/2 cup frozen peas (defrosted) or you can use 1 cup of mixed frozen corn and peas
1 grated carrot
pinch of salt and pepper
2 eggs beaten
1 cup wholemeal flour
tsp crushed garlic
Optional extras; 2Tb feta or grated Edam cheese

Mix well, the mixture tends to be a little thicker than pancake mixture. Panfry each side for around 2mins. Makes around 8-10 fritters. Serve with side of mesculin salad.