Magic mushrooms

Made a simple vegetable and shiitake mushroom stew for dinner tonight (finely cut tomatoes, squash, garlic, onion, red pepper and parsley in addition to the mushrooms, and oil, water, salt and spices naturally.) Cook on low heat for a pretty long time so it's all getting soft and flavors blend well into each other. Alex contributed with his flavorful rice pilaf that he makes from time to time. If you want to try it the way he does it:

Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add finely chopped onion and sauté until soft. Add salt, ground cumin, some nutmeg and curry for flavor. You could replace the curry with a mixture of other spices or herbs if you like, whatever goes, even a broth if you're in that sort of mood. Stir in rice and mix continuously. Let it fry until rice is almost starting to get burned. Pour over water (as much as your particular rice calls for) and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes more or less. Fluff rice with fork; add some pine nuts at the end if you have some available. 

Mushrooms of almost any kind have become my latest must-have in the fridge. Could not get enough of the wonderful Swedish chanterelles when I was visiting home the other week. Having left meat behind me, it's sometimes a challenge to find something that stimulates the desire for meaty flavors which one normally is used to. But mushrooms, especially portobello and marinated shiitake works pretty good as substitutes. I'm also sold on seitan, the famous wheat protein that can taste real close to beef or chicken if done right. Will show you how I do it one of these days if that can be of interest. Have you guys cut down on eating meat at all?