Vegan Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

Looking for simple, tasty appetizers that will wow your guests? These bacon stuffed mushrooms sure do the trick! They are incredibly addictive, thanks to a filling of dreamy cashew cream cheese, smoky vegan bacon and parsley. This recipe is a lighte… — Looking for simple, tasty appetizers that will wow your guests? These bacon stuffed mushrooms sure do the trick! They are incredibly addictive, thanks to a filling of dreamy cashew cream cheese, smoky vegan bacon and parsley. This recipe is a lighter alternative to traditional stuffed mushrooms yet loaded with tons of flavor and makes a delicious appetizer. (Photo source: Kale Walch)

| Yield: 6-8 servings | Time: 35 minutes |

Ingredients

Lemon Ginger Vinaigrette

2 pounds cremini (aka baby portobello) mushrooms, cleaned, de-stemmed

2 cups raw cashews

2 cups cubed French baguette

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

7 ounces vegan bacon bits

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350º F.

In a food processor or wide blender, pulse cashews until pulverized into coarse meal. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl.

Pulse bread until broken down into coarse breadcrumbs. Combine with the cashews in the mixing bowl.

Clean and mince fresh parsley and add to cashew/breadcrumb mixture.

Add nutritional yeast, granulated garlic, onion powder, salt, olive oil and bacon bits to the mixture. Either by hand or with a pastry blender, mix until thoroughly combined.

Pack the mushroom with a rounded tablespoon of the cashew/bacon mixture and assemble on a baking sheet.

Once mixture is used up, drizzle with a narrow stream of additional olive oil and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Makes about 20-25 mushrooms.

Zero-waste tips

Another easy way to use up mushroom pieces, scraps, slightly wilted mushrooms or mushrooms stems is with soup. Chop pieces and tender stems to add along with other vegetables for chunkier soups: use scraps, wilted mushrooms and tougher stems to make creamy soup.