Every parent’s dream is to a healthy child. Battle childhood obesity with lighter family favorites like blended burgers, blended spaghetti, blended pizza, and blended tacos by replacing a portion of the ground meat with mushrooms. The technique is easy: Blend finely-chopped, umami-rich mushrooms with a portion of ground meat in classic family meals.
Mushroom blend-ability helps to bring another serving of vegetables to the plate, adds volume to meals, and extends portions. Finely chopped mushrooms look similar and blend seamlessly with ground meat, so classics can be healthier without losing taste or satisfying texture.
This method gives each meal a better nutritional profile too. Mushrooms add important nutrients like vitamin D, potassium, B vitamins, and the antioxidants selenium and ergothioneine. Using a blended mushroom mixture decreases the calories in the meal and lowers saturated fat and cholesterol content.
Blendability works in any ratio – for a meatier dish, a 50/50 blend satisfies, or for lighter fare with hearty texture, try 80 percent mushrooms and 20 percent ground meat. You may also choose to sauté mushrooms beforehand when making a recipe like burgers or meatballs where you want to hold a shape. When cooking with dryer meats, fresh, chopped mushrooms bring moisture to the dish.
Try mushroom bendability at home. Start with a simple recipe like a blended Beefy Burrito or a classic Sloppy Joe. With mushrooms, the possibilities are endless no matter how you dice ’em!
