You are right I did forget mushrooms. I have added them in a couple dishes, but probably not using them to their full capacity. Also no chance my kids would eat any food if they knew mushrooms were in it, further complicating the issue. Also also, any time I have mushrooms I love to roast and eat them instead of chopping them up.
Well, the below wouldn't help with your kids much, but I've got a few recipes...
The first is stolen from Giada:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/grilled-portobello-mushrooms-with-tomatoes-and-fresh-mozzarella-recipe-1942780I like it as a main dish itself when we're trying to eat light, but I also find (and your kids might like) using the filling/topping with romaine lettuce as a lettuce wrap instead of over portobello as an appetizer or side dish.
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The second was adapted from the following paleo recipe, to add mushrooms and other changes because I'm not eating Paleo:
https://paleogrubs.com/sausage-and-cauliflower-casserole-recipeIngredients
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. Italian sausage, ½ casings removed, ½ links
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
- 8 oz. sliced white mushrooms
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Mozzarella cheese, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the cauliflower florets to the pot and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse the florets with cold water. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook for 8-10 minutes until browned, using a spoon to break into small pieces. Remove the sausage and set aside, slicing the browned links into ½” slices.
- Stir in the onion, garlic, and thyme. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add the tomatoes and mushrooms to the pan and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Stir in the reserved sausage, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the skillet from heat and carefully stir in the cauliflower. Transfer the mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake for 25 minutes. Garnish with parsley to serve.
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The third is a stuffed mushroom cap recipe. This is much more wide open to interpretation, so you can make this about a thousand different ways. But here's my basic:
- Start with white large button mushroom, with stems removed, cleaned and patted dry.
- Mix together cream cheese cheddar cheese, minced garlic, and minced hot pepper (I usually use jalapeno, seeds and membrane scraped out). As with everything, a little salt & pepper goes in. Ratios are entirely to taste, but the cream cheese is the "base", so it will be the majority
- Stuff the mushroom caps with the mixture to *very* slightly overflowing, and place cap side down / cheese side up on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until it looks like the mushrooms themselves are softened and the cheese fully melted and starting to brown nicely.
- Allow to cool just until edible, and enjoy, but they are best served fresh and steaming hot.
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Again, if your kids won't eat mushrooms, these are recipes where it's impossible to hide them. How old are they?
The sausage cauliflower bake is something where the mushrooms aren't that prominent, so if they like all the other flavors in that dish it might be an introduction. And the stuffed mushroom caps are typically an appetizer, so if you're entertaining it might be the type of thing where you get them to try one just to see if they like it, but you're not spoiling dinner by making something they won't eat for the main course.
