Yumm! Lion's Mane Mushrooms

One of my greatest joys is to go to a farmer's market and find something I have never seen before, take it home, cook it up, and find a new taste delight.

That happened last Saturday. Usually we find the Boulder Farmer's Market a little boring, it just doesn't have the variety that we had at the New York City Farmer's Market at Union Square, and is much more expensive than the NYC one. But this week I was perusing the mushroom vendor and found the Lion's Mane mushroom.

One person on the web claimed that they look like tribbles. They do. Or a really fine grained fuzzy cauliflower. It is recommended that you don't wash them. I can believe that, they are extremely spongy and really take up water.

Most people recommended just sautéing them, so I put some olive oil in a pan over medium heat. They brown up very nicely and get a little crispy.








Another thing we found was a very large rapini that had purple stalks and little yellow flowers on the top. That was stirfried with tamari sauce.

For the main, I had found a chipotle/lime powder at a local store, so coated sliced tofu with it and broiled on high in the oven until it was crispy.

Normally my food has little aesthetic merit, but tonight it doesn't look too bad. And it was delicious. The Lion's Mane has a slightly seafood-like flavor. It really does hold water, I didn't wash them, but they were very juicy. They are now definitely my favorite mushroom.