Salmon Stuffed Mushroom Caps

These warm Salmon Stuffed Mushroom Caps are overflowing with flavor and are so simple to make.  With a little help from the Gorton's Fisherman and a few fresh veggies I was able to quickly whip together this wholesome snack. 

 As always the ingredients I used for today's snack are only what was available at the time I was ready to eat.  So, take a look in your freezer and pull out whatever frozen fish or protein you happen to have.   We just so happened to have Gorton's Grilled Salmon, Lemon Butter flavor.  You'll want to cook it according to the package or heat it through in a skillet then set it aside to cool. I used both salmon fillets in the package.

We had about ten large button mushroom left in the fridge, so I cleaned them up with a damp paper towel, just to remove any dirt particles.  Never wash your mushrooms in water because they are like little sponges and will become waterlogged, which will keep them from browning.  Remove the stems and scoop out the center.  Place your cleaned mushrooms in a baking dish just big enough to hold them, the tighter the fit the better. Set aside.

Chop the stems and centers of mushrooms, 3T onion, 1 T celery, 2T red bell pepper.  Saute veggies in a large skillet with 1T butter.  Use a nice large skillet on a med-high heat.  The large skillet will allow the water to evaporate as it is released from the mushrooms and veggie.  Continue to saute and stir your veggies until they are cooked and caramelized like the image below.

I could just eat these veggies as is, but I'll hold off until the finished product.  See how they have browned and caramelized and the water has evaporated.  If you still have a lot of liquid in the bottom of your pan then you'll need to continue cooking your veggies.  Too much water will make your mushrooms a soggy mess. 

 Now that the salmon is cooled, take a fork and flake it in to small chunks.  

 We have Ritz and as y'all know~ Everything tastes better on a Ritz!  So, I was sure it would taste good in these Salmon Stuffed Mushroom Caps.  Just take 8-10 crackers and pound the heck out of them in a Ziploc baggie.  For good solid filling that is not too loose and holds up to the moisture that the mushrooms are going to give off you'll want to have at least 1/4-1/3 Cup of cracker crumbs.

Mix together in a large bowl, the flaked salmon, cracker crumbs, sauteed veggies, 1 beaten egg and 2-3T milk.  Season with salt & pepper and a few sprinkles of Cayenne Pepper.  This should yield about 3/4 to 1C of filling.   Your filling should have enough body to pile it into your mushroom caps.  If your filling does not sit-up on the spoon like in the above photo then you'll want to crush more cracker in it. 

With the cleaned caps in a baking dish fill all your caps using all of the filling.  As you can see I had ten and was able to fill them all with lots of this yummy filling.  Pile it on there!!!! 

Bake them in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  And look what you get.....

These Stuffed Mushroom Caps are so good and good for you! Mushrooms are one of the Top 20 Super Foods!!  

Top 20 Super Foods

With all things great there has to be a solid foundation, otherwise what is created will crumble before long. 

In order to continue to bring you uniquely deliciously and healthy snacks I needs a base from which to work. I stumbled upon this fantastic list of the Top 20 Super-Foods, from which I can begin creating and cooking my own recipes. These super-foods are a nutritional road-map of ingredients if you will.  

First let's discuss what a super-food is:

a common definition is that a superfood is one which has high concentrations of essential nutrients with proven health benefits, with few properties generally considered to be negative (such as being high in saturated fats or artificial ingredients, food additives or contaminants). An often-cited example of a superfood (or superfruit) is blueberries. They contain high concentrations of various antioxidants, anthocyanins, vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber, they have a compound, pterostilbene, which acts to protect the heart in the same way as cholesterol-lowering drugs, are low in calories and are most often organically grown.[1]

With all that said, not all claims of a food being super are true or even recognized by the scientific community! The term SuperFood has become a marketing tool and the name simply slapped on a label.  You'll have to use caution and know what foods are actually verified as a superfood.

Examples of these "well verified" superfoods would be:

 Berries, nuts and seeds in general, dark green leafy & flower vegetables (such as kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, brussel sprouts and broccoli), apples, citrus fruits, fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines, vegetables with bright, dark or intense colors (such as beets and their greens, and sweet potatoes), many legumes (peanuts, lentils, beans (with some beans being significantly higher in certain nutrients than others)), and whole grains as a group (gluten and other allergies notwithstanding). Dark (ie, over 70% pure) chocolate is also included in many superfood lists, although many of its claimed merits are still the subject of heated debate in scientific circles.[2]

Top 20 Superfoods: 

1. Beans & Lentils
2. Black Rice
3. Blueberries
4. Cherries
5. Coffee
6. Concord Grapes
7. Dark Chocolate
8. Dried Plums
9. Eddamame
10. Figs
11. Green Tea
12. Kale
13. Kiwi
14. Mushrooms
15. Quinoa
16. Salmon
17. Squash
18. Strawberries
19. Sunflower Seeds
20. Walnuts

As you can see from the list we have quite a foundation to work with! We already consume most; if not all, of these in our daily diets. So, for some of us the next step would be to bite-the-bullet on the expense and upgrade to 100% Organic. Which is a whole other topic of discussion!

So, what do you think? Are you eating enough of these superfoods?

Resources: [1],[2], Image:HealthCastle.com