Well, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve returned to some wonderful, warming foods this week.
As much fun as it was flirting with ice cream in January, I think the taste buds will adapt quite nicely to this soft and succulent oven roasted delight.
I’ve been on something of a quinoa-hazelnut frenzy these pasts weeks. A dynamic taste duo that my husband and I can’t seem to get enough of. So, I thought I would share our quinoa obsession with you as the base of today’s recipe and crank up the heat a bit with a topping of miso-glazed portobello mushroom.
The result is a lean and protein-rich meatless meal that is wonderfully satisfying in texture and taste.
The roasting process melds the miso and mushroom together beautifully. Roasting intensifies the flavor of the mushroom while the miso transforms it into a tender and savory meal that is positively brimming with flavor.
Roasted Miso-Glazed Portobello Mushrooms on Hazelnut Quinoa
For the Mushroom
- 4 portobello mushrooms, gently washed
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted, (substitute olive oil)
- About 8 tsp red miso, brought to room temperature
- 2 Tbsp chopped green onion (scallions) for garnish
For the Hazelnut Quinoa
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1/2 cup chopped hazelnut
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup snipped fresh tarragon leaves
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Notes:
One of the neat things about this recipe is that you won’t need a dressing for the quinoa. Miso is savory by nature and the roasting process liquefies the paste somewhat such that it releases delicious juices as you eat the mushroom. You will have plenty of taste coming from each bite of the mushroom to flavor the quinoa.
You can make the hazelnut quinoa ahead of time if you wish and simply store it in the fridge until you’re ready to make the roasted mushrooms.
Quinoa cooks beautifully in a rice cooker by the way, so if you happen to have one, don’t be shy to pull it out!
Directions:
Makes 4 servings
Heat oven to 400 F.
Snip the tips of the mushroom stems such that the remaining portion is roughly at the same level as the cap of the mushroom.
Place mushrooms stem side down on a foil lined baking sheet and brush backs of caps with coconut oil.
Place mushrooms in oven (stem side down) and roast for approximately 6 minutes or until mushroom have achieved a rich deep golden color.
Flip mushrooms over…
Spread about 2 tsp of miso along the interior of each mushroom cap surrounding each stem. Caution: a little bit of miso goes a long way. Miso is very salty so you don’t want to overdo it. You will also want your miso to be soft – if you have some stored in the fridge bring it to room temperature – otherwise it will be too hard to spread and will break the delicate gills.
Return miso-glazed mushrooms (stem side up) to oven for another 5 minutes until miso softens and warms – you may start to see juices running – and that’s a good thing! (Just be cautious as you transfer the mushrooms from the sheet to the serving plate).
Meanwhile, prepare quinoa on stove top or in rice cooker according to package directions (generally 1:2 cup ratio quinoa to water).
Placed cooked quinoa in a mixing bowl and add hazelnut, cranberry and tarragon. Mix gently to combine.
Divide hazelnut quinoa among 4 plates. Top each plate with a warm miso-glazed portobello mushroom. Garnish mushrooms with green onion and a few nuts, cranberries, etc. as desired.
Thanks so much for dropping by Judy! Always nice to see you here ;0)
Portobellos do make a great burger! Love loading them up. Cheers MJ! Enjoy the festivities this weekend ;o).
There’s nothing quite like it! Thanks for such wonderful recipes and beautiful photos!
Don’t you just love when the universe comes together like that? ;0) Thanks for dropping in to say hello Yvonne! Much appreciated.
Hi sharla, thanks for dropping by! Yes, you can absolutely substitute any nut you like here.
Mm, I just got a big bag of quinoa. Now I know exactly what to do with it!
Can you substitute hazelnuts with either macadamia nuts or almonds?
Tried to comment yesterday, not sure what happened…
Loved this post, particularly the hazelnut quinoa, which I MUST make soon, I am in a present state of infatuation with hazelnuts. Not sure why. Must be the season. ;-)
Wow, this sounds amazing. I love roasting things with a miso glaze- especially sweet potatoes! But I’ve never thought to use it on mushrooms. Portobellos happen to be my fave. And I love the addition of hazelnuts to your quinoa! I’m always trying to think of new mix-ins for it. I would never have thought about hazelnuts but i bet it gives it such a great flavor and crunch!!! As you can see, I’m pretty enthusiastic about this meal :)
I keep saying I need to try making more dishes with quinoa, but it never goes anywhere except into the deep recesses of my brain that have become inaccessible. I’ve had quinoa a couple of times and loved it, the texture and the flavor was quite unique. And of course, I love just sitting down eating a whole portobello! Love making burgers with them. This combination sounds delicious, lots of textures and flavors that I love! Definitely an inspiring dish Kelly!!!!
Kelly, this looks delicious! The flavors and textures are right up my alley–savory mushrooms, crunchy hazelnuts, tender quinoa–oh my goodness, YES!
This is beyond delicious! I am too a fan of quinoa. I am really tempted with your miso glaze.
Great suggestions Kelly, thank you.
Kelly, you know how much I love anything with miso (it’s a bit like soy sauce: everything tastes better with either of them!). I find mushrooms rare sources of protein I can be happy with instead of meat, so I love the whole dish. And quinoa… I still haven’t used the one I have had for ages in my cupboard!
I have been wondering for quite a long time what a portobello mushroom was. I even wrote in some blog comments it’s not available in Switzerland or France and now seeing your beautiful meal I have finally checked: this is simply the brown champignon de Paris (called crimini sometimes I think), but much bigger and we call it simply ch. de Paris or ch. de couche just like the white variety! Wow! This changes completely the reaction I had looking at your beautiful dish: now I know I can make it too!
What a lovely taste explosion dish.
:-) Mandy
Kelly, I’ve been waiting for this recipe for a few days now- since you enticed us all on FB! It sounds amazing. I looove meaty, rich portobellos, and combining them with miso…there is nothing I don’t love about this recipe!
I’m always on the lookout for new quinoa recipes and I so do love this one!! The presentation looks lovely and the mix of ingredients sounds perfect to me. I’ve not tried using miso yet, so I’m excited to try it out!
Seriously beautiful. All the flavors here sound delicious and I can’t get enough of hazelnuts. Portobellos are so satisfying as a meat replacement.
I really love miso + mushroom combination too as much as miso + eggplant. Both ingredients soaks up the flavors well and so delicious! I’m drooling by looking at your dish right now. Probably I need to make it for myself soon. The quinoa is something I need to work on especially for my kids. I don’t make often enough, however, I love this one with cranberries in it. Bet my kids can’t refuse to this one!
Hello Food Jaunts! You’ll laugh but my rice cooker only has one setting (as I recall, I paid a whopping $14.99 for the beauty :). The quinoa cooks faster than brown rice – I would say more like a white basmati so I would choose white rice if I was selecting – you can always evaporate more water but you don’t want to fry it! ;0)
So if you’re using you’re rice cooker to cook the quinoa, are you using the brown rice cycle? Or the white rice?
Either way, this looks absolutely delicious! I love the idea of a miso roasted mushrooms as a filling and tasty main.
Hi Eva, the portobello caps have a nice ‘meaty’ satisfying taste to them however, overall, this is a light (low-cal) meal so depending on the appetites involved you could absolutely buttress this dish by adding some diced avocado and goats cheese (yes, I think that would work nicely here) to the quinoa. Chickpeas might also be a nice addition here and you could start the meal with a warming soup. You mention salmon, if your friends are Pescetarian, some seared scallop might also work nicely in the quinoa… I hope this gives you some ideas. Thanks for your note!
We’re on the same wavelength Kelly, I’ve been doing Quinoa like crazy too! This combo looks like a perfect vegetarian dish…and as luck would have it (my luck, that is) we’re having vegetarians for dinner on Saturday night. This would be a wonderful change from the salmon I usually have. Is it filling enough for a main course, do I need to add more protein, like goats cheese (not sure how that would work with the miso flavour (I know it works with hazelnut). Please let me know.
Hope you’re enjoying the warm front, my allergies are nuts (allergic to mold).