| Roast mushrooms with quinoa |
This is an easy supper for two people by itself, but is best served with some other vegetables on the side. Try slices of roasted butternut pumpkin, which will brighten the taste of the mushrooms, or slow-roasted Roma tomatoes, or baby spinach sauted with chopped walnuts and pumpkin seed oil. Or, if you have the time and are in the mood for colour like I was the first time I made this, have a little bit of all three. If you're not up to vegetables, try mixing finely chopped flat leaf parsley or other herbs through the quinoa just before serving.
| 4 large flat mushrooms |
| extra virgin olive oil |
| 2 gloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped |
| 50 g butter |
| sea salt and freshly ground black pepper |
| 1 cup quinoa |
| 2 cups boiling water or light vegetable stock |
| chopped fresh herbs (or vegetables, see paragraph above) |
Heat the oven to 180C. Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth, and snap out the stems. Place them, gills up, in a baking dish, then drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove and scatter with the garlic, and place a quarter of the butter in the hollow of each mushroom. Return to the oven and cook for another 10 minutes or so until the garlic is cooked and the mushrooms are dark.
While the mushrooms are cooking, prepare the quinoa. Place it in a sieve and rinse well under cold running water, then drain and transfer to a saucepan. Bring the stock or water to the boil, add to the quinoa, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
Spoon the quinoa onto plates, and top with two mushrooms each. Drizzle the cooking juices from the mushrooms over and serve.
12 December 2003 - updated 25 January 2004 (thanks to Reg for letting me know that the original recipe didn't quite add up!)
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