Does anyone else try and clean their fridge out at the end of the week, or is that just me? I don’t know what it is, but I love starting the week with a clean slate fridge. I often find myself at the end of the week throwing together meals with tidbits of leftover food, which is the tastiest kind of upcycling you can do.

In light of my recent return from Maui, I tried to brighten up my first week back with a girls night. Ugh, I swear this first week has felt a year long. But we had lots of wine and greek food – complete with my homemade tzatziki dip, which you need to make like right now. You may as well also make this pita bread with it, for dipping purposes.

Anyways, I’m getting off course here. I didn’t use up all the mushrooms and potatoes I had bought for the dinner, so I was determined to use them up, which I did! I also just bought a bottle of nice balsamic vinegar from Bosa Foods, so I mean the decision was made for me.

Now I just started eating mushrooms like a year ago, but I think I’m now obsessed with these ones. The sauce on these mushrooms is just insane. It’s sweet, garlicky, a little bit spicy, tangy and herbalicious. Cutting the mushrooms in half (or if they’re not too big, leaving them whole), instead of slicing or even quartering them, prevents them from getting too soggy and mushy, and lets them keep their hearty, meaty texture.

While the mushrooms are roasting, the sauce turns into a thick and sweet, almost syrupy like consistency that coats the mushrooms so perfectly, caramelizing them to full devouring potential!

Now while these are what I believe to be a great side kick dish, I did actually eat them as a main course. The meaty, hearty texture of the mushrooms means that you won’t miss the meat, making this a perfect vegetarian/vegan main as well! While the mushrooms were roasting, I boiled and mashed up my leftover potatoes with some caramelized onions, herbs and leftover feta cheese. Trust me, you either need bread or potatoes to soak up that lip licking sauce from the ‘shrooms. You don’t want to let the sauce go to waste.

I served my balsamic mushrooms over the potatoes, topped with more feta cheese and some olives, which is completely optional. This is super vegan friendly by simply just not using feta cheese. Oh, and these are freezer friendly.

As a recap these mushrooms are:

• Meaty and hearty, making it a great side or vegetarian/vegan main;
• Sweet, tangy, spicy and garlicky;
• Vegan friendly (by omitting the feta);
• Made with ingredients you most likely have in your pantry/fridge and easily adaptable to what you do have;
• Simple and cheap to make;
• Freezer friendly;
• A great excuse to eat bread or potatoes (as if you need one), because you absolutely need a vehicle to soak up the sauce;
• They’re delicious.

‘Shrooms deserve to be the center of attention sometimes!

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Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms

• 1 pound mushrooms, button or cremini
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp oregano, dried
• 1/2 tsp basil, dried
• 1/2 tsp thyme, dried
• pinch of dried chili flakes
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbps olive oil
• Pepper, to taste (no salt needed with the soy sauce)
• Feta cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 fht.

Cut mushrooms into halves, or if they’re not too big, leave them whole. Place them in a roasting pan big enough so that they are in a single layer.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, minus the feta cheese. Feel free to use whatever flavour of balsamic and whatever herbs you have on hand – it’s a good time to get creative!

Pour sauce over mushrooms and toss.

Roast mushrooms for 45 minutes, giving them a quick toss half way through.

Serve as a side dish, or as a vegetarian/vegan main. Garnish with feta cheese, if desired!