Easy Peasy Mushroom Stroganoff

I ate this stroganoff 3 times last week ... it was that good. And it fights breast cancer.
Kind of. Let me explain.


You probably know I have an on-going battle with estrogen. I firmly believe it tried to kill me, by surreptitiously feeding breast cancer cells in my body. Damn estrogen. And here I thought it was just making me voluptuous, and fertile ...

Anyway. What am I prattling on about here? This is a recipe, not a tirade on estrogen, right?

Mushrooms are full of natural compounds called aromatase inhibitors - little guys that stop the production of estrogen in the body. Not in an eat-mushrooms-become-more-male kind of way ... but basically helping to put a stop on the over-production of estrogen. You see, our modern lifestyles are laden with chemicals that actually behave like estrogen in the body (including, of course, the pill) and plus - we're not labouring 14 hours a day in the fields, or breast-feeding our 13 children ... so estrogen is more a part of our day-to-day life than it used to be.

The moral of the story?
You will probably not get breast cancer. Only 11% of us do.
Watch your food additives anyway.
Mushrooms are good.
Mushroom stroganoff is great.
Live happy.
Be strong.
Amanda xx


This recipe is an adaptation from one of my favvvvvvvvvvourite cookbooks - Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home. His includes venison, and brandy and sour cream. I like to think mine's a wee bit healthier, with all those mushies and yogurt. But the taste? Amazing. You never knew paprika could do this.

The only reason I made this recipe so small was - for the same reason Jamie did, I bet - because otherwise you need a super-massive pot for all those mushrooms. This is a much more manageable size, and perfectly feeds a family of 2.5 like ours.

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Mushroom Stroganoff
serves 2.5

The time
15 min prep + 20-30 min cooking

The ingredients
a relatively large amount of extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
500g (or 1 lb) brown mushrooms, chopped*
1 Tbs sweet paprika
a couple of parsley stalks, chopped
1 Tbs butter
the zest of 1/2 an organic lemon
3/4 cup plain yogurt

to serve
the parsley leaves from those stalks 
sea salt, to taste
cooked rice

*of course, you can use button mushrooms or a combination of button, brown and wild mushrooms for this. 

**as always, try to use organic ingredients when you can. Grow your own parsley - it's worth it!


The process
1. In a big, heavy pot or skillet, saute the onion and garlic in 2 Tbs of olive oil on medium heat until soft. Add the mushrooms, paprika, parsley stalks and a pinch of salt. Stir. Cover. Add more oil. Lower the heat.

2. Keep adding olive oil to the pan (and stirring) as needed so the mushrooms a) cook properly, b) cook tastily, and c) don't stick permanently to the skillet. Once they really start to cook and brown, you can leave the lid off the pot.

NOTE: You will not feel comfortable with the amount of olive oil you are adding. It's ok. You'll never have to tell.

3. When the mushrooms are cooked, remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the butter, lemon zest and yogurt till melted and saucy.

4. Serve over rice with parsley leaves and sea salt.

Enjoy!

The cost
If you make this organic in Australia with market-fresh brown mushrooms, you can do it for less than $10.

Comments

  1. OMG, you've just inspired me to make chicken and mushroom stroganoff for dinner.... was wondering what I was going to do with that chicken!

    It sounds divine!

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  2. oh yum. i am so into mushies right now. i put them in everything but it's been a while since they were the main event.
    i also love hearing your knowledge about cancer-fighting foods. i've not experienced cancer myself but it just feels like it is everywhere.

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  3. Hi Amanda, I made this for dinner tonight and it was AWESOME. I did add some chicken for the 'carnivores' (organic of course!) and there is some leftovers for lunch tomorrow (that I am going to make sure I find before anyone else does!) Hope you, Rob and Nelle are all good. Love and Hugs Donna Xx
    P.S. I am going to put a link to your website on my Facebook page so my friends can enjoy your musings/photo's and recipes :)

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  4. The stroganoff looks beautiful, but just want to let you know (in case you can alter a setting) that when you hit the print button it spits out 7 pages just to get the recipe!!

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  5. That's strange, that didn't happen when I printed it??

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  6. Hey Amanda

    This sounds great and a must try. Such a fantastic and healthy food those little mushies are. Hope you are well..

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  7. I *finally* made this dish and it was so awesome!!! Almost as good as when you made it for us...

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  8. @Renee Treml Haha! Can't wait to make it for you again ... miss you guys xx

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Thanks for commenting! Amandaxx