How to clean and store mushrooms | Herbalife Advice

Hi I'm Susan Bowerman and today's how to is about selecting and storing mushrooms.

You know, mushrooms are worth getting to know considering that a medium mushroom only has about 4 calories. So let's talk about how to select and store them. When you look for mushrooms in the store, the first thing you want to look for is to make sure your mushroom cap is dry. You also want to make sure your mushroom is firm—no soft spots or moldy spots. They shouldn't have any moisture on them.

Then the second thing you want to do with your mushroom is turn it over. If you're looking at small brown mushrooms or white mushrooms, the underside of your mushrooms should be closed because that's going to be an indication that it's fresh. With the portabella mushrooms, you are always going to find that the underside is always open. Portabella mushrooms tend to have a richer, meatier flavor so you can't expect them to be closed.

So now you are ready to store your mushrooms. When you get home, you might be tempted to just leave them in the container that they came in, which isn't the best thing to do. Instead best thing is to put them in a paper bag. So when you get them home, just put them in a paper bag, close it up lightly and put it in the refrigerator. You don't want to keep them in a plastic bag because it will build moisture and your mushrooms are going to get soft and they will mold more quickly.

The best way to wash a mushroom is to not wash it at all. Just take a damp paper towel and gently wipe it. They're usually not that dirty and you shouldn't soak them in water because they are kind of spongy and tend to absorb moisture. Give it a quick wipe.

The other thing I've heard people do it they peel them, but I really discourage that and will show you why. We've got this nice brown mushroom here: the brown color is a very good indication of some antioxidants in the mushroom. If you peel that away you're taking a lot of nutrition so don't peel them.

Once you're ready to prepare your mushrooms, you can pop the stems off if you want to. Although with small brown mushrooms or white mushrooms, I encourage you to leave them. What you can do, if you would like to, is just trim the ends off with your paring knife. Then they are ready to go.

With portabellas on the other hand, the stock tends to be pretty tough so you aren't going to want to leave the stems on. But what some people do is cut the stem off, put it in the refrigerator in the paper bag, and just hang on to it. Then the next time you are making a soup or a stew you can just throw that stem in there and it will add some nice meaty flavor to your dishes.

The other thing about mushrooms is that they are low in calories and are loaded with nutrition. Mushrooms are a good source of vitamin B and selenium. The other interesting thing is that they are one of the few plant sources of Vitamin D. So see if you can find some way to incorporate these super nutritious vegetables and add a meaty flavor to many dishes at home. Mushrooms are low in calories and have lots of nutrition.

For more nutrition advice visit iamherbalifenutrition.com/