By Laura Hipshire
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Most people probably think of mushrooms as a tasty topping for pizza or an ingredient in creamy soup. Lately though, the slippery veggies have been getting attention for their antioxidant qualities.

Mushroom a day keeps the doctor away
Antioxidants help cells in the body ward off damage from dangerous oxygen molecules called free radicals. Free radicals may play a role in serious illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Pennsylvania State University researcher N. Joy Dubost, Ph.D., measured antioxidant capacity in several kinds of mushrooms. Dubost found that white button mushrooms— the ones you might put on a nice lean steak—have more antioxidant capacity than tomatoes, green peppers, pumpkins, zucchini, carrots, or green beans.

These common, inexpensive mushrooms also pack more antioxidant punch than the more exotic and more expensive shiitake and oyster mushrooms.

“You don’t have to eat only the vegetables with the highest antioxidant capacity to benefi t,” Dubost says. “If you eat a variety of mushrooms along with a variety of other vegetables, you’ll be getting a variety of antioxidants.”

Soup’s on!
According to chefs at Fox Run, in Novi, community members there are “mad for mushrooms.” Chicken breasts with wild mushroom sauce are a favorite there, as is forest mushroom bisque.

Chef de Cuisine Terry Shuster shares his techniques for cooking with mushrooms and reveals his top-secret mushroom barley soup recipe.

“We use button mushrooms because they are easy to get and aff ordable; we use portabellas for the same reasons,” Shuster says. “Both of these mushrooms are delivered clean compared to most mushrooms, which are very dirty.

“When cooking mushrooms, we recommend medium heat because of their delicate nature—they are mostly water and give off a lot of liquid when cooked,” he says. “Save the liquid for soups and sauces as it has a very concentrated mushroom taste.