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No Croutons Required - The Mushroom Roundup

Thanks to everyone who submitted a mushroom dish for this month's edition of No Croutons Required. Checking our email has been particularly exciting this month as Holler and I are both mushroom fiends. We received a good number of inspired ideas and I'm looking forward to trying them all. Though it will not be an easy choice, I invite readers to vote for their favorite in the comment section or by emailing us. Please note that Holler's salad and my soup are not eligible for votes.

Our first entry comes from Jackie Vetter, who missed last month's deadline by a day. She shares her Mushroom-Barley-Stewp, so named because it's thicker than a soup but not quite a stew. This nourishing bowl of goodness is a meal in itself, as it also contains carrots, peppers and northern beans. Serve it along with a corn muffin and a side salad and you have one satisfying and warming dinner. (Georgetown, Indiana, US)

Deb of Key West Wine and Gardening cooks up an easy but jaw-droppingly delicious appetizer. These succulent Grilled Mushroom Caps With a Pesto & Pepper Filling are made with cremini mushrooms, and include some of Deb's homegrown cayenne peppers. Foraging for mushrooms on a forest floor would be great fun with an experienced guide, but thankfully, edible mushrooms are readily available from the local market. (Key West, Florida, US)

Kitchenetta from Got No Milk offers up a tempting Asparagus-shitake Quiche that is sure to appeal to lactose intolerant diners who miss classic dishes containing milk and cheese, and easily adapted to suit the preferences of dairy addicts. Topped with sauteed asparagus and supported with a whole wheat crust with dill and sliced almonds, this quiche would be perfect for a spring brunch. (Pennsylvania, USA)

Suganya tempts the palette and tames the beast with this Baked Portobello stuffed with cheese and tomato sauce, served over lemon and olive oil dressed greens. Inspired by a restaurant meal, Suganya transforms this meaty mushroom into a beautiful entree salad that would be fantastic for lunch or dinner. (Southwest, USA)

Sia of Monsoon Spice makes a fiery Mushroom Chettinad that her aunt often made for her. These chewy mushrooms are cooked along with dry chillies, peppercorns, tamarind paste and coriander leaves. A spice lovers delight, this dish can be served over rice, flat bread or between bread slices and crisp lettuce greens. (United Kingdom)

No mushroom roundup would be complete without a cream of mushroom soup and Petra of Food Freak comes up with a Double Cream of Mushroom Soup that sounds mighty fine. The double in this case refers to both the cream and the mushrooms, and includes some cream cheese and chopped herbs. I'll take two bowls please! (Hamburg, Germany)

Medhaa of Cook with Love also makes a healthy creamy mushroom soup. Her easy to prepare Cream of Mushroom Soup with Spinach and cloves would make a delightful light meal served along with some toasted bread. (Palmerston, Ontario, Canada)

Chow Vegan serves up an elegant King Oyster Mushroom Salad that would indeed be fit for royalty. The gently sauted shrooms are served over a bed of oil and vinegar dressed endive and lightly cooked green beans. (San Francisco, USA)

Lysy of Munchkin Mail shares a unique but easy Grilled Mushroom Salad served with Strawberries, Watercress and a Poppy Seed dressing. This refreshing salad would be a good choice for a summer menu. No Croutons Required! (Warwickshire, United Kingdom)

Some of very favorite flavors are featured in this mouth-watering Mushroom & Caramelized Onion Salad that Pixie tossed together. Baby salad greens are topped with caramelized red onion, sauted portobellos, feta cheese and some dressing. Another fine choice for a summer menu. (Kent, United Kingdom)

This Thai Coconut Mushroom Soup is my contribution to this month's No Croutons Required. Spring has finally arrived and originally I was going to make a salad to celebrate, but I couldn't resist this light and elegant brothy soup made with homemade coconut milk. As it turns out, this is an ideal spring soup. (London, Ontario, Canada)

Tracy of Tracyfood doesn't include a picture of her Mushroom Miso Soup that actually helped her land a job, but I am sure this soup that includes two types of miso and soy sauce makes for one beautiful bowl of soup. Appropriate for vegans and vegetarians alike, Tracy tells us this soup is very flavorful and easy to prepare. (Eugene, Oregon, USA)

Dhivya of Culinary Bazaar makes a 5 Mushroom, Rocket and Pasta Salad that is substantial enough to serve as a light lunch or dinner. In addition to lots of yummy mushrooms and pasta, this luscious salad includes some kidney beans, roasted red pepper and tomato. (California, USA)

Holler, my co-host of this vegetarian event, makes a salad with one of my favorite grains. Check out this spicy Mushroom and Quinoa Salad garnished with feta cheese and fresh basil. This is Holler's first time cooking with quinoa but it's a first class recipe. She had some leftover the next day and included some sun-dried tomatoes. (Scotland, United Kingdom)

Lucy's nourishing recipes are always an inspiration and her mushroom contribution is no exception. This gingery Warm Oyster Mushroom and Leek Salad would be perfect any day of the week, all year round. Though Lucy thinks it might be more appropriate to call this dish a stir-fry rather than a salad, there would surely be no arguments if this was set before you at the dinner table. Most intriguing is the contribution of the leeks to the dish, which are described as "a tangle of egg and gluten-free noodles." (Melbourne, Australia)

Divya of Dil Se contributes a classic Cream of Mushroom Soup. This is a very versatile recipe that can be adapted to suit the preferences of the cook. Divya recommends adding shredded cheese if you want a richer soup and heavy cream is you like a thick soup. Any combination of mushrooms can be used in this earthy bowl of warmth. (Los Angeles, California, USA)

Our next entry is from Miri of Peppermill. This Mushroom, Red Pepper and Broccoli Roasted Salad is one of her favorite summer foods. The veggies are roasted in olive oil and then tossed with more olive oil, crushed red pepper, vinegar, lime juice and mixed herbs. Any combination of vegetables can be used for this salad, but I dare say, mushrooms are a must! (Delhi, North India)

Helen, the winner of last month's No Croutons Required, takes miso soup one step further with this "cleansing and invigorating" bowl of Mushroom, Nori and Wakame Noodle Soup. Exotic mushrooms are here combined with buckwheat soba noodles and sea weed in a elegant bowl of soup perfectly suited to the warmer weather. (London, England, United Kingdom)

Gretchen serves up a Peruvian Mushroom Ceviche. White mushrooms are marinated in lime juice, garlic, herbs and ginger and served over lettuce alongside cooked sweet potato. A fresh sounding meal indeed. (Lima, Peru)

Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe was crowned the very first winner of No Croutons Required. She's back this month with moody Mushroom Sherry Stew. Johanna does not share my enthusiasm for mushrooms, but this combination of mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, peas and herbs certainly sounds sublime. (Melbourne, Australia)

Kevin has for a good while been a source of culinary inspiration, especially when mushrooms are on the menu. Kevin bought more mushrooms than he needed to prepare this irresistible Teriyaki Mushroom Salad, but extra mushrooms are further cause for inspiration, and Kevin made a Cream of Mushroom Soup with roasted mushrooms, herbs and cream with the remains. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

Kittie claims she is disorganized this month, but still manages to make the submission deadline with an enticing Spicy Mushroom Bulgar Salad. This refreshing combination of mixed mushrooms, bulgar wheat, sun-dried tomatoes and rocket leaves dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil would be a fine salad to pack for a picnic. (Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom)

Our final entry is from Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska. Her Morel Stuffed Mushrooms feature a very flavorful filling of sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice, potato, cheese and morel powder. These delectable little bites would be a perfect appetizer or you could pair them with two kinds of beets as Laurie does for a particularly satisfying vegetarian meal. (Alaska, USA)

Holler will be hosting the May edition of No Croutons Required. The theme, along with the winner of April's challenge, will be announced at the end of the month.

26 comments:

  1. So sorry I missed this month, but there is certainly a lot of mushroom inspiration here! Soups, salad, "stewp," appetizers--it all looks great. Wonderful roundup!

    I'm off to check out your entries and hope to join in next time. :)

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  2. Everything truly looks wonderful and I honestly can't decide on my favourite! I'll try to come to a decision and let you know via email.

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  3. That was a lovely roundup..I liked personally the Mushroom caps with pepper and pesto filling by Deb..Would love to try all these entries being a fan of mushrooms

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  4. Thanks for the lovely roundup, Lisa. Deb's pesto stuffed mushroom sounds divine. She gets my vote.

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  5. This is like a first-class mushroom cookbook in one blog post. I'd eat any and all of the above, but I guess I have a hankering for spice and my vote goes to the Mushroom Chettinad.

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  6. Just a mouthwatering collection of mushroom recipes! Thanks for my inclusion. I LOVE my asparagus-mushroom quiche, it always gets my vote!

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  7. Kitchenetta;

    You can't vote for your own dish :) Can you pick a second favorite?

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  8. Phenomenal! I'm bookmarking this page and will surely come back to it all month. I love mushrooms, in all their creative reinterpretations!

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  9. all these recipes look amazing. I absolutly live for mushrooms. I wish I knew about this, I have a great cajun mushroom soup recipe. Nice set up too, love all the pics. I'm a huge fan of recipes with pics. Congrats on the cool post :)

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  10. Well, since I can't vote for my own, (I already know I absolutely love it!), Kevin will get my vote with his Teriyaki Mushroom Salad. OMG. Since I follow Eat To Live and I need to eat 1 pound of raw vegetables and 1 pound of cooked veggies a day, this would be a great recipe to do some of that with!

    Can't wait to try it!

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  11. that was a wonderful round up Lisa. Its hard for me to select one! but then i have to say that i was intrigued by the idea of grilled mushroom caps with pesto filling. so my votes for that

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  12. Great roundup! Look at all of those tasty looking mushroom dishes. That Baked Portobello looks so good!

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  13. Thanks for putting this together Lisa - all the dishes sound so wonderful. Count me as a vote for Suganya's Baked Portobello - it looks amazingly good (as do the others - but Suganya's is the one that trigerred my gotta have it impulse).

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  14. Wow, another great roundup! As always, they all look so good. Since I had to vote for one, I'll go with the warm oyster mushroom and leek salad. Yes, I have a thing for oyster mushrooms. :-)

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  15. I think what surprises me most about this roundup is there was only one raw mushroom salad made by Gretchen. As someone "learning to like mushrooms" I do find cooked more palatable but anticipated a lot of raw mushrooms salads in the roundup. Interesting?!

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  16. thanks. ure blog looks really nice. pics are cool

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  17. Great job Lisa on the round-up! All of these lovely mushroom dishes look terrific! I must say the stuffed portobella gets my vote. Nice presentation!
    Thanks again Lisa for another great event!

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  18. Echoing all the good thoughts.

    Excellent round up. Loads of mushroom-y goodness.

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  19. I did make a mushroom dish today for Earth Day. I had better mark the deadline on my calendar for next month so as not to miss out:D You girls are doing a great job. So may enthusiastic participants:D

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  20. Add my vote to the baked portabello mushroom - looks outstanding!

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  21. This a wonderful mushroom round-up! So many great things to choose from!!

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  22. What a great roundup, Lisa! There are enough good ideas to keep us all in shroom heaven for weeks. I vote for the teriyaki mushroom salad, but there are lots I want to try!

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  23. thanks for another great round up - really enjoy looking at some inspiring recipes that make mushrooms look so perky and tasty - and others that I just know I would love to taste!

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  24. I'm sorry I missed this as I love mushies and it's too hard for me to choose a favourite.

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  25. These all look amazing and I want to try every single one! I was surprised no one did anything with enoki mushrooms - they are the most amazing delicate but chew mushroom suitable for soups and salads. Maybe I'll submit something with them another time! Thanks all for such inspirational recipes!

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  26. thanks for another lovely round-up. deb's Grilled Mushroom Caps With a Pesto & Pepper Filling gets my vote :)

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