Super Easy Teriyaki Sautéed Mushrooms

This is an incredibly quick, easy, and DELICIOUS way to prepare a batch of sautéed mushrooms to use as a topping on just about anything! It is also extremely inexpensive and the ingredients are likely things you already have in your refrigerator.

I like to put these teriyaki mushrooms on veggie burgers, but I also love them in a rice bowl or noodles, or with other vegetables.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 clove fresh garlic, smashed and finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon Teriyaki sauce (such as Mr. Yoshida’s)

1 tablespoon red cooking wine

Black pepper to taste

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil together. When everything is melted and it starts to get a little bubbly, add in your fresh garlic and stir quickly. Never let your garlic burn.

2. Immediately add the fresh mushrooms and sauté to let the mushrooms cook a little bit. About a minute or two. They will shrink down slightly.

3. Once the mushrooms are starting to get hot, add in the red wine and teriyaki sauce. You can add extra teriyaki sauce if you like. When the sauce starts to bubble, turn the heat down to simmer. Gently stir everything for about 4 more minutes.  Add some fresh ground black pepper to taste.

4. Use the mushrooms immediately, or let them cool to store in the refrigerator for later use. 

Bento Box Salad Dressing

It's no secret that I am a complete sucker for teriyaki and yakisoba.  I am on a quest to test out every teriyaki joint in my city.  I think I finally figured out a good approximation of the creamy, mayo-ey salad dressing comes on the fresh green salads that you get with a bento box at teriyaki restaurants.  I crave that taste sometimes - the crispy-fresh, cold, crunchy lettuce with a delightful dressing accenting the top.  YUM.  In restaurants, the dressing ranges from white to off-white, to beige, but it's always slightly tangy, slightly sweet, kind of aromatic, and slightly creamy.  It balances out the other flavors on the tray perfectly.  This is a basic recipe that can be adjusted, depending on your taste, and depending on what you have on hand for your ingredients.

Ingredients

5 TBL mayonnaise (I used regular American mayo, but many recipes use Japanese mayo/Kewpie)
1 TBL seasoned rice vinegar (if you don't have rice vinegar, you can use a mild vinegar like white wine vinegar)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar, more or less (some recipes suggest 2 tsp, but I prefer it less sweet)
2 tsp sesame oil

If you have sesame seeds, you can add 1-2 TBL of them, or ground them up and add them.

Mix everything in a bowl until the sugar has fully dissolved and it has a creamy, tan-colored salad dressing consistency.  You really shouldn't taste one overwhelming flavor.  It should be a nice balance of all of the ingredients.  But of course, that depends on your own personal preferences.

Some people add a little grated ginger to this recipe. You could also add some fresh black pepper, a teaspoon of fresh, chopped garlic or onion,  It is very customizable.  But start with the basic recipe and go from there.

I eat this on fresh green iceberg lettuce. It is so simple and so good that I don't feel like anything is missing.  Because Lettuce + Dressing = LOVE.

Occasionally I will add some baby carrots.  Some people put this dressing on soba noodles or cole slaw style sliced, raw cabbage. You could definitely use it as a dipping sauce for all sorts of things: steamed vegetables, cold noodles, proteins...there's really no limit.  (*But maybe you shouldn't put it on your breakfast cereal.  I wouldn't pour it on ice cream either.)

I'll tell you what would be awesome.  Dip some perfectly ripe, avocado slices in this dressing. Now you're talking.

Once made, if there's any left over, it should be refrigerated and used within a week.

*This is a vegetarian recipe, made with egg-based mayonnaise.  Vegan mayo could be substituted.