Stuffed Mushrooms

My friend Christi issued a challenge to her Facebook friends:  Take stock of what's in your freezer, and use only ingredients you find in there to make your dinners - for a month!  Wow, I would be impressed if someone could do that!  My freezer is mostly filled with bread and chicken breasts.  But I did move things around, look in the back for items that needs to be used soon - and I found a tube of faux sausage meat.  You know what I mean - the soy stuff vegetarians eat instead of animal flesh.  I do try to eat lower on the food chain and will occasionally give a new brand of meat substitute a try.  I guess this one didn't inspire me right away so I tossed it in the freezer.  Time to use my resources!

I ate half of it - sautéed with onions and butter - in breakfast burritos.  Not bad!  Now I had another 6 or so ounces to use.  Inspiration struck - stuffed mushrooms!  I love one-bite appetizers, so I decided to take this recipe for a spin.I imagine it would be better with real sausage meat, removed from its casing and browned, but for non-animal-based protein, this was a keeper.  Next time you have a vegetarian coming over for dinner, whip some of these babies up!

Cute, neat, and tasty - the best kind of appetizer!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces button (white) or cremini (brown) mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon butter or oil
• 4 - 6 ounces vegetarian sausage "meat", or use real sausage, removed from its casing
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 4 green onions, minced
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.  Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray or brush lightly with oil.
2. In a saute pan over medium heat, cook the sausage in the butter, breaking it up into small chunks.  Cook for 5 to 8 minutes until hot and brown.  Let cool for a few minutes.
3. In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese and green onion, and season with salt and pepper.  Add the sausage and stir well to combine.
4. Clean the mushrooms by brushing off any dirt with a damp paper towel.  Remove the stems.  Spoon a teaspoon or more of the sausage mix into the mushroom cavity, mounding it up as necessary.  Place stuffed mushrooms on baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the mushrooms are hot and cooked through and the stuffing is browned.

That's it!  These little bites went fast (even the kids liked them) and would fare well at a buffet or cocktail party.