Aimee's Inside Out Stuffed Mushrooms

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

12 Mar 2008 01:05 PM

I love mushrooms -- and now we have a good reason to love them. Recent research from Tufts University found that common white button mushrooms are health heroes!

Button mushrooms can give your immune system a boost, fight viruses, and help protect against cancer. They're also a low calorie alternative to pasta and rice. Swapping one cup of button mushrooms for one cup of rice or pasta in your favorite recipes can save you two hundred calories. Make the switch twice a week for a year and you can lose as much as six pounds with very little effort!

They taste great AND are great for your health -- what's not to love here?

One of my favorite ways to enjoy mushrooms happened by accident. It was a busy Thanksgiving, and my mom wanted to make stuffed mushrooms -- but ran out of time in the day. She came up with this delicious mushroom dish instead. I call it Inside Out Stuffed Mushrooms... but you can just call it yummy.

What you'll need:

• Button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (or canned and sliced, if you want to save time)
• Bread crumbs
• Parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)
• Diced tomatoes (juice and all)
• Your favorite Italian spices like parsley, basil, and oregano

Prepping this dish is super easy. Mix the breadcrumbs with the tomatoes, spices, and cheese. Alternate layers of mushrooms and layers of breadcrumb mixture. Top it off with more cheese and bake at 350 until the cheese is melted and it becomes a delicious gooey mess. I like it best served warm, though it's pretty good cold, too.

You can make as little or as much as you want! For a variation, you can make individual servings in little ceramic cups to use as a side dish. I like it as an appetizer, alongside other Amodio family favorites like cheese and pepperoni slices, veggies and dip, and bruschetta.

Aimee is a Pets Blogger and a Health Blogger here at Families.com. But she really likes eating!

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Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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