Slightly obsessed.

On the menu: Yotam Ottolenghi’s Marinated Mushrooms with Walnut and Tahini Yogurt

We spent a few days in Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago, and I’m sure it comes as no surprise that we ate our fair share of Wisconsin goodness–beer, brats, and cheese curds were plentiful. Then we came back to Maine and felt the worst we had in months, so we decided to lighten up our dinners for a while. Thanks to Yotam Ottolenghi, you can eat lighter meals without sacrificing an iota of flavor. I would argue that the two meals we’ve made from his most recent book Plenty are the most flavorful meals we’ve had in a long time. Kevin is slightly obsessed with this book right now, and for good reason.

This recipe was super easy, and it incorporated a lot of flavors that we were excited about. We adapted it slightly based on what we had in our pantry and what we could find at our grocery store–no frozen fava beans or shimeji mushrooms here–but the small changes did not detract from the overall dish. The mushrooms aren’t cooked; they’re just sliced and marinated for an hour before being combined with beans and toasted walnuts. We went a step further and added some endive, which Kevin roasted for a few minutes to temper its bitterness.

Dinner was delicious. There was such a complexity of flavors in this dish–brightness from lemon juice and red wine vinegar, sweetness from maple syrup (really!) and toasted walnuts, and the tahini yogurt added a bit of richness. We are really, really looking forward to cooking more from Plenty.

A note: Eeek! Fall is upon us; where has all my natural light gone for my photos?! Bare with me as I figure out how to work with early evening darkness, otherwise it will be a long, long winter ahead…yikes.

Marinated Mushrooms with Walnut and Tahini Yogurt
adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

*this recipe is also available online as it was published in the Guardian 

1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Juice of 2 medium lemons
salt and pepper
3 cups button and/or baby bella mushrooms, sliced (they’re the same mushroom; we used both for color contrast)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons tahini paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 to 2 cups frozen lima beans
2/3 cup walnuts
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 head of Belgian endive

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, maple syrup, juice of one lemon, about half a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper in a small bowl. Place the sliced mushrooms into a large bowl and add the dressing, tossing to coat evenly. Allow to marinate for an hour, tossing occasionally.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a small bowl, mix the yogurt, tahini, garlic, the juice of the other lemon and half a teaspoon of salt. Use a fork or a whisk to whip into a light paste. You can refrigerate this sauce for up to a day.

Roast the endive leaves tossed a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper for 10-15 minutes at 350°F.

Cook the beans as directed on the package. Add the beans, walnuts and cumin to the marinated mushrooms, stir, taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Fold in the endive at the last minute.

Serve topped with a dollop of the tahini yogurt.