Sauteed Mushrooms

These simple sauteed mushrooms are a mouthwatering side dish! I use a mix of mushroom varieties to make this recipe extra-flavorful and fun to eat.

Sauteed mushrooms are so simple, yet so flavorful at the same time. They’re the perfect example of how when you use good-quality, plant-based ingredients, you don’t need to add much to make something delicious.

Mushrooms have an intense umami flavor on their own, so I highlight it with a splash of tamari and tangy rice wine vinegar. I’ve always liked mushrooms, but only when I started cooking them with tamari and vinegar did I completely fall in love. Now, I use these ingredients almost anytime I have mushrooms in my kitchen (see here, here, or here). They really punch up the rich, savory flavor of the mushrooms, and they take these simple sauteed mushrooms to a new level.

Once the sauteed mushrooms are deeply golden brown, I toss them with minced fresh tarragon as a final finishing touch. If you ask me, tarragon + mushrooms are a match made in heaven, but feel free to use this sauteed mushroom recipe as a blank canvas. Nix the tarragon and cook the mushrooms with minced rosemary, thyme, or sage, or garnish them with fresh parsley. Instead of vinegar, deglaze the pan with white wine, or add butter for extra richness. You really can’t go wrong here. Enjoy!

Sauteed Mushrooms Recipe Tips

• Don’t wash them, wipe them! If you wash the mushrooms under running water, they’ll become water-logged, and they won’t brown as they cook. Instead, wipe them clean with a damp paper towel.
• Use a variety of mushrooms. While this recipe will work with just cremini mushrooms, I highly recommend seeking out a mix of mushroom varieties. Each one has a slightly different shape, texture, and flavor, which adds complexity to these simple sauteed mushrooms and makes them fun to eat.
• Don’t move the mushrooms for the first 2-3 minutes. When the mushrooms first go in the hot pan, don’t move them for the first couple of minutes. This way, they’ll get a nice golden brown sear, which adds rich flavor to the final dish.
• And after that, move them only occasionally. Sauteed mushrooms are best when their edges are nicely browned, which results from consistent contact with the hot cast iron. If you move them too much, they’ll soften before they have a chance to brown in the pan.

How to Serve Sauteed Mushrooms

There are so many ways to serve these mushrooms! Here are just a few of my favorites:

• As a side dish with any protein or a hearty pasta like lasagna or baked ziti
• Tossed with pasta, spaghetti squash, or zucchini noodles and a drizzle of cashew cream or marinara sauce
• In a grain bowl! I love to make one with these mushrooms, farro, quinoa, or couscous, roasted chickpeas, and scoops of pesto.
• Topped onto soba noodles or stuffed into a banh mi. (skip the tarragon for either of these)

How do you like to serve sautéed mushrooms? Let me know in the comments!

Crispy Baked Falafel

Packed with herbs & spices, this crispy baked falafel recipe is bursting with delicious flavor. Stuff it into pitas, top it with your favorite fixings & enjoy!

Falafel was the food that first convinced me that a vegetarian diet could be filled with bold, exciting flavors. It’s crispy, rich, and satisfying, packed with fresh herbs and aromatic spices. Stuffed into pita bread with veggies, tahini sauce, and a pop of pickled onions, it’s insanely flavorful, making it one of my all-time favorite foods.

I included a recipe for red lentil falafel in Love and Lemons Every Day (one of my favorites in the book!), but never before have I shared a classic chickpea-based falafel recipe. Without a doubt, it was worth the wait. I’m picky about my falafel, but these little guys check all the boxes: they’re crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle, and loaded with herbs and spices.

What is Falafel?

If you’re thinking, “Wait. What is falafel?”, you’re in for a treat. A traditional Middle Eastern dish, falafel are fried balls of ground chickpeas, which often include parsley, cilantro, and spices such as cumin and coriander. It’s a popular street food throughout the Middle East and Europe (if you’re ever in Paris, make a stop at L’As du Fallafel), where you can find it stuffed into pitas brimming with fresh veggies, herbs, sauces, and pickles.

I’m not a fan of working with a big vat of hot oil at home, so instead of deep frying my falafel, I bake it. It comes out deliciously crisp just the same, and it’s a little lighter than the traditional version. This one is my favorite falafel recipe to date, and I hope you fall for it too!

My Falafel Recipe Ingredients

To make my baked falafel recipe, you need these key ingredients:

• Uncooked dried chickpeas. I use soaked dried chickpeas, not canned chickpeas, in this recipe. Soak your dried chickpeas overnight before beginning the recipe, and then blend the soaked chickpeas into the herby falafel mixture.
• Shallot and garlic. Together, they add a delicious bite! You can also use yellow onion in place of the shallot.
• Lemon zest. It’s not traditional, but I love the lemon’s zesty brightness in these patties.
• Cumin, coriander, and cayenne. This spice blend is warm and aromatic, and the cayenne adds a little heat.
• Sea salt. It punches up the rich flavor of the herbs and spices.
• Baking powder. Just a pinch makes these balls nice and puffy in the oven.
• Cilantro and parsley. I use a good amount to make my falafel bright green and flavorful. There’s no need to toss the herb stems for this recipe – blend them straight into the falafel mixture along with the leaves!
• Extra-virgin olive oil. I add a tablespoon to the chickpea mixture for richness. In addition, I drizzle the patties with oil before baking so they become nice and crisp in the oven.

How to Make Falafel

Once you’ve soaked your chickpeas, this recipe is easy to make! Here’s what you need to do:

1. Blend the ingredients. Add the falafel ingredients to a food processor, and pulse until well combined, but not pureed.
2. Form the falafel balls. Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop and your hands to gently form the mixture into 12 to 15 thick patties.
3. Bake! Drizzle the little cakes with olive oil, and bake, flipping halfway, until they’re golden brown and crisp.
4. Serve, and enjoy! Stuff the cooked falafel into pitas with your favorite fixings, top them onto a salad, or serve them over a bowl. Then, dig in!

Best Baked Falafel Tips

1. Used dried, NOT canned chickpeas. The perfect cakey, crumbly texture comes from dried chickpeas that have been soaked, but not cooked, before being blended into patties. Make sure to soak dried chickpeas ahead of time to make this recipe. Substituting cooked, canned chickpeas does not work here – your falafel will turn out wet and mushy.
2. Drizzle the patties generously with oil before baking. Because this falafel recipe is baked, not fried, it automatically uses much less oil than traditional falafel. In order to get your patties nicely crisp and golden brown in the oven, don’t hesitate give them a generous drizzle of oil before baking. They’ll come out delicious and still be lighter than classic falafel.
3. Don’t pack your patties too tightly. It’s tempting to really pack the patties together tightly, but doing so will make them tough and dense. Form the falafel balls gently, and if your mixture isn’t holding together, pulse it a bit more in the food processor until the mixture sticks together. If it’s still too crumbly, pop it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes before shaping and baking the patties.
4. Make a double batch, and freeze the extras. These guys keep well in the freezer, so go ahead and make a double batch to have on hand for salads, bowls, or wraps. To reheat frozen falafel, pop them in a 400-degree oven for 10 minutes, until they’re crisp and heated through. Check out this post for more freezer-friendly dinner ideas and this post for some great meal prep tips.

Falafel Serving Suggestions

I love stuffing these into a pita sandwich loaded with chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, fresh herbs, hummus, pickled onions, and generous drizzles of tahini sauce. To customize your pita sandwich, you could easily swap another Middle Eastern sauce like tzatziki or baba ganoush for the hummus, or drizzle it with cilantro lime dressing instead of (or in addition to) the tahini.

If you’re not in the mood for pita, top your patties onto a big salad along with some crispy roasted chickpeas, or serve it over a bed of quinoa, cilantro lime rice, or cauliflower rice with lots of fresh veggies.

Polenta with Chimichurri & Mushrooms

This recipe is my favorite kind of comfort food. The polenta and mushrooms are hearty & rich, but the zingy chimichurri makes it all feel fresh & bright.

It’s getting to be that point in winter where what I crave more than anything is spring. Slowly but surely, the days are getting longer, and I’m starting to daydream about warm weather, trips to the farmers market, and all the fresh bounty spring and summer have to offer. Still, Chicago is freezing, and when it comes time to eat dinner, nothing sounds better than comfort food.

I can’t imagine a more perfect meal for this moment than Polenta with Sautéed Mushrooms and Chimichurri. The polenta’s vibrant yellow color reminds me of the sunny days to come, and the zingy chimichurri makes the dish feel fresh and bright. At the same time, the creamy polenta and savory mushrooms are hearty and comforting – just the thing for a cold night. Flavorful, simple, and delicious, this recipe is meant for winter days when you’re longing for spring.

Recipe Variations

This basic template would work with any number of variations. To boost the protein content in this dish, top it with a handful of roasted chickpeas. If you have basil on hand instead of parsley, use pesto instead of chimichurri, or swap any combination of roasted broccoli, butternut squash, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts for the mushrooms. If you’re not in the mood for polenta, serve the mushrooms and chimichurri over farro, quinoa, or couscous.

Let me know what variations you try!

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Even cheese lovers will fall for this 4-ingredient vegan Parmesan cheese. It's SO easy to make, and it's a tasty umami topping for pasta, salads, and more!

This vegan Parmesan cheese recipe is my new favorite condiment. It’s sharp, bright, savory, and rich, and as far as I can tell, it’s great on just about anything.

I’ve made vegan Parmesan in the past, but this time, I added one extra ingredient: lemon zest! Its bright flavor brought extra complexity to the savory, nutty mixture, and now, I can’t get enough of it. I keep a big jar on hand in the freezer, and I reach for it anytime a dish needs an extra punch of umami flavor. If you’re dairy-free, trying to incorporate more plant-based foods into your diet, or just out of Parmesan, you have to try this recipe!

Of course, this vegan Parmesan cheese can’t step in for actual cheese in every scenario. I wouldn’t substitute it for Parmesan when the cheese is essential for creating a creamy sauce, like in my fettuccine Alfredo. However, it’s a fantastic vegan alternative to dairy anytime you’d garnish something with grated or shaved Parmesan. Think salads, pastas, pizza, etc. Once you have it on hand, you’ll sprinkle it over everything!

Vegan Parmesan Cheese Recipe Ingredients

My vegan Parmesan cheese recipe calls for four simple ingredients:

• Cashews – They add richness and texture to this dairy-free cheese. For the best results, use raw cashews here. Like in my cashew cream, their neutral flavor is ideal for this recipe. (Roasted cashews will give it a strong cashew-y taste.) If you’re nut-free, substitute a mix of raw sunflower seeds and hemp seeds for the cashews.
• Nutritional yeast – The key ingredient for adding cheesy flavor to vegan recipes! Like in my vegan cheese sauce, it makes this recipe super savory, nutty, and delicious.
• Lemon zest – It adds the perfect bright counterpoint to the other rich, savory flavors here.
• Sea salt – This recipe is best when you salt to taste, so make sure that you don’t use salted cashews. Made with unsalted cashews, it needs about 1/2 teaspoon salt to make all the flavors pop.

Pulse the ingredients in a small food processor until they form a coarse meal with a soft, crumbly texture. Be careful not to process the vegan Parmesan cheese for too long, or the mixture will turn into cashew butter!

If your food processor is too large to make a single batch, feel free to double the recipe. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze them in an airtight container for up to a month.

There’s no need to thaw frozen vegan Parmesan cheese before you use it. Because of its fine texture, it thaws in a snap, so sprinkle it directly onto whatever you’re eating!

What to Do with Vegan Parmesan Cheese

This simple vegan Parmesan cheese is a yummy umami topping for all sorts of recipes. Here are just a few of my favorite ways to use it:

• Sprinkle it over any pasta recipe, like my spaghetti Bolognese, pesto pasta, or creamy pasta pomodoro.
• Top it onto vegan pizza.
• Add it to avocado toast.
• Toss it with roasted vegetables like butternut squash, broccoli, or tomatoes.
• Add it to any salad. It would be delicious in place of the regular Parmesan in my Caesar salad!

How do you like to use vegan Parm? Let me know in the comments!