The mushroom industry has a way of making a girl feel important.
Not too long ago, I did an impromptu Pamela's Kitchen video, where I talked about The Blend, where you take finely diced mushrooms and blend them with meat. It's a promotion started by The Mushroom Council that helps consumers looking to reduce their meat intake but maintain that umami flavor.
There's no argument that The Blend is delicious. What it wasn't was easy. To do it at home, I was taking fresh mushrooms and dicing them with my food processor. Now, I love kitchen gadgets as much as the next person, but this was adding a solid 15 minutes to my well-honed Taco Tuesday routine.
Enter The Mushroom Chop from To-Jo Mushrooms Inc., and Let's Blend from Monterey Mushrooms.
Both launched this fall, and both were sent to me to sample in Pamela's Kitchen, my video series on ProduceRetailer.com.
To-Jo's is simple: cleaned fresh mushrooms sent through the slicer three times.
Monterey's is a little more complex: the mushrooms are diced, cooked and available in three flavors.
Bottom line: both were a major time saver, and I didn't have to use (or,
more importantly, wash) any special gadgets in the kitchen.
As we see more consumers turning to produce as a protein swap, we'll see more mushrooms move to the center of the plate, so it's great to see this innovation take root.
Are you curious about what a promotion for The Blend looks like at retail? Check out this article from last spring. I talked with Steven Muro of Fusion Marketing about the Mushroom Council's efforts at retail.
And don't just take my word on it. Here are some profiles of fellow Blenditarians.