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.

A 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 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 packed 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 benefit,” Dubost says. “If you eat a variety of mushrooms along with a variety of other vegetables, you’ll be getting a variety of antioxidants.”

From stroganoff to skin cream
According to chefs at Henry Ford Village in Dearborn, community members there are “mad for mushrooms.” Cream of mushroom soup is a favorite there, as is veal marsala. Lead Cook Bill Gore shares his top-secret “Three-Variety Mushroom Stroganoff” recipe (below) exclusively for our readers.

“Fresh wild mushrooms add a distinctive flavor to the topping of most recipes using mushrooms,” Gore says. “But if they are not available, a mixture of cultivated mushrooms, such as shiitake, oyster, and chestnut would do just as well.”

Apparently, mushrooms aren’t just for eating—one of the newest uses for mushrooms is in skin cream, now being touted as the new “wonder cream” for making your skin as soft as a baby’s bottom.