MUSHROOM OBSESSION - THE ALMOST VEGAN 'PIZZA'

In an effort to try and eat more organic food in 2016, I recently bought myself a mushroom-growing kit, out of curiosity as I saw a friend having it in her kitchen (my lettuce died, so I'm starting over with something more achievable). The instructions were simple enough, and within a week of spraying the provided wood dust with water I got myself enough oyster mushrooms to harvest! They were clean white and plump and smelled deliciously musty, begging to be eaten. It almost made me forget my sad attempt to grow my own salad leaves.

Cleaning them up was no fuss, and I had them in omelettes, soupy noodles and my personal favourite, as a crunchy topping for an almost-vegan pizza. This ‘pizza’ recipe isn’t exactly recipe but more of an assembly job, since all the veg are roasted in the oven and everything else is pretty basic. I’ve tried a few different combos, but this one is my favourite as the oyster mushrooms are crunchy and not overcooked so you get to enjoy their freshness, and the roasted cauliflower is a nice texture, with creamy avocado and nutty hummus to compliment. Not to mention it takes literally 10 mins to prep (the rest is oven time), so it’s officially my new favourite Meat Free Monday dinner menu.

This recipe makes 2 mini ‘pizzas’.

Here’s what you need:
Flatbread (available at most grocery stores)
Oyster mushrooms
Breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 floret of cauliflower, stemmed
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 avocado
Hummus
Cherry tomatoes (optional)

Here’s what you do:

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees celcius. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Season breadcrumbs with salt and pepper.
3. Crack an egg. Now dip the oyster mushroom in egg, then the breadcrumbs and then line them up on the tray.
4. Toss the cauliflower in salt, pepper, cayenne and olive oil. Line them up in the baking tray.
5. Roast the mushrooms and cauliflower in the oven for 15 mins. Then remove the mushrooms, and continue roasting the cauliflower for another 10 mins.
6. Heat your flatbread in the oven for around 3 mins. When heated, spread a seriously generous amount of hummus on top it.
7. Assemble the cauliflower, crunchy mushrooms, avocados (scooped out or diced) and halved cherry tomatoes on the pizza if using.
8. Squeeze some lemon over and drizzle some olive oil to finish.
9. Eat while watching Friends.

Note:      a.) The best bits of the roasted cauliflower are the disintegrated, slightly burned ones.
               b.) Don’t buy hummus at the conventional grocery store because they are always so expensive.                         Try the ones in middle-eastern grocers. They’re cheaper and tastes much better.