Directions for Marsala Balsamic Marinated Portobello Mushrooms
1. In a small bowl combine ghee, liquid aminos, vinegar, Marsala wine, and garlic. Whisk well to combine.
2. Lightly grease a cookie sheet with ghee. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and rinse. Place mushroom caps on the cookie sheet ribs facing up. Carefully pour the Marsala mixture into the caps and season to taste with salt and pepper. Marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place in preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and drain the broth from the center of the mushrooms and serve on the side as a dipping sauce. Garnish portobello mushrooms with fresh herbs. (These are fantastic served with mashed potatoes because you can pour the mushroom broth over the mashed potatoes!)
Health Benefits of Portobello Mushrooms
Portobello Mushrooms are well known for their immune enhancing properties. Combining the mushroom with garlic enhances these properties for an extra immune boost. But what many people don’t know is that these tasty portobellos can also contain Vitamin D.
Mycologist Paul Stamets discovered in the summer of 2004 that the level of vitamin D in freshly picked, indoor- grown shiitake mushrooms rose from 110 IU (international units) to an astonishing 46,000 IU per 100 grams when the mushrooms were placed outdoors in the sun for just six hours with the gills facing up. (When the gills were facing down, the level rose to 10,900 IU).
This means that the Health Benefits of Portobello Mushrooms isn’t limited to just your immune system. Eating just one gram of sun-treated shiitake for instance, which is roughly one tenth of one mushroom – would give you 460 IU, close to the FDA’s recommended daily dose of 400 IU. In his book, Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, Stamets concludes, “(In) populations where vitamin D is seriously deficient, sun-exposed dried mushrooms can help address a serious health issue.” And this makes mushrooms very, very Good Decisions.
