Oven Roasted Shiitakes with a Sundried Tomato-Cilantro Sauce
A Fresh Take on Mushrooms (That Even My Son Loved)
Mushrooms can be the star of the plate
Sometimes, all it takes is a fresh approach to fall in love with an ingredient you’ve been making the same way for years.
For me, that ingredient is mushrooms. I’ll admit, I’ve tended to stick to a basic formula: sauté in butter or oil, season with salt and thyme, and finish with a splash of Worcestershire sauce. It’s quick, reliable, and has served me well over the years.
But over the past month, I’ve been diving deeper into the world of mushrooms — and it’s been eye-opening. Besides being incredibly delicious, mushrooms are a true powerhouse for good health. Across the board, they offer antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties. You gotta love that!
And each variety has its own particular superpowers. Take shiitakes, for instance — one of the easiest to find in most grocery stores and the one used in this week’s recipe. In Tero Isokauppila’s book Healing Mushrooms (2017), you soon come to understand that shiitakes are nutritional goldmines: they contain seven of the nine essential amino acids, a host of essential enzymes, important minerals, and vitamins B and D. Even more powerfully, they can activate white blood cells to help fight infection, support the liver, and may lower cholesterol.
Mushroom deserve respect
All of this research made me realize that mushrooms deserve more respect in my kitchen. They shouldn't be just an afterthought. So I headed to my local Asian market — always the best place for variety — and filled my cart with oyster mushrooms, king oysters, beech mushrooms, snow whites (a chubbier version of enokis), and, of course, plenty of shiitakes. I even picked up a few packages of dried golden chanterelles, lobster mushrooms, and pine (matsutake) mushrooms. My fridge (and pantry) has never looked so exciting!
A craveworthy dish
First up: shiitakes. I needed to create something worthy of them. Inspired by a recipe in EatingWell magazine’s special edition Mushrooms, I came up with Oven Roasted Shiitakes with a Sundried Tomato-Cilantro Sauce — a deeply flavourful, meaty side dish that's especially satisfying if you're trying to cut back on meat without sacrificing that hearty feeling.
The method is simple: remove the stems, toss the caps in oil and seasoning (like my signature Rusty Sled BBQ blend), roast them at high heat, flip, spoon on a Spanish-style sauce, broil, and serve. The roasting concentrates their gorgeous flavour, making them shrink just slightly while staying meaty inside and crispy at the edges.
My son is won over
We’ve been eating them non-stop this past week. But it was my 24-year-old son Ben’s reaction that told me this recipe was something special. Ben’s never been what you’d call a mushroom fan. He eats them because he knows how good they are for you, but the texture has never been his favourite.
The evening I made them, his schedule as a medical student meant he ate long after I'd gone to bed. I woke up the next morning to this text:
"Those have to have been the best mushrooms I’ve ever had in my life. Definitely the first time I’ve gone for seconds on mushrooms alone and I would’ve finished them entirely had I not thought I should leave some left for you and dad. Definitely the first time I ever thought of not eating anything after having them because I wanted to keep that taste in my mouth. Just incredible. Crunchy. Nice charcoal roasted flavour. Unbelievable."
What a start to the day! Honestly, my heart just about burst — first, because he took the time to tell me, second, because he loved them, and third, because he could articulate exactly why.
Feedback like that reminds me why I love cooking: seeing someone light up over real, simple food.
Mushrooms don’t have to be an afterthought. With a few pantry ingredients — and a fresh approach — they can easily become the star of the plate.
You'll find the full recipe for Oven Roasted Shiitakes with a Sundried Tomato-Cilantro Sauce below. I hope you’ll give it a try — and if you do, don’t be surprised if they disappear faster than you expect. (You might want to double the batch!) Be sure to drop me a line and let me know how you enjoyed them!
Happy eating,
CJ
xo
🌱 Your Action Steps This Week
🌱 Save Your Stems
Don’t toss out mushroom stems — they’re packed with flavour! Keep them in a freezer bag and use them to make a quick mushroom broth for soups, risottos, or sauces. They can also be dehydrated and ground to a powder to add extra punch to sauces and soups.🌱 Stretch the Sauce
Have some extra sauce leftover from this week’s recipe? Thin it with a little water and turn it into a delicious salad dressing.
🌱 Try Mushrooms in New Places
Think beyond side dishes — add roasted or sautéed mushrooms to warm grain bowls, stir them into scrambled eggs or omelettes, pile them on top of toast with a swipe of goat cheese, or blend them into a pasta sauce for extra richness without adding meat.
Share this week’s recipe with your friends!
Recipe: Oven Roasted Shiitakes with a Sundried Tomato-Cilantro Sauce
Serves 4
500 g – 1 kg fresh shiitake mushrooms
2 tbsp olive or avocado oil
BBQ rub, such as Be a Kitchen Hero Rusty Sled
1 tbsp toasted sliced almonds
1 clove garlic
3 tbsp olive or avocado oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp chopped cilantro or parsley
½ cup water
¼ tsp salt
Additional chopped cilantro or parsley, for garnish.
Preheat oven to 475°F. Line a cookie sheet with foil (not parchment paper) and grease.
Trim the stems from the shiitakes. Cut a shallow ‘x’ on the top of each cap, being careful not to cut all the way through. Toss the caps with the 1 tbsp oil. Transfer to the cookie sheet and lay the mushrooms cap side up (gill side down). Sprinkle the caps with Rusty Sled. Bake for 20 minutes. Mushrooms will shrink and become crispy around the edges.
Meanwhile, in a smoothie cup or blender, combine the toasted almonds, garlic, 3 tbsp oil, vinegar, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, Dijon, chopped cilantro, water and salt. Puree and transfer to a bowl.
Remove the pan from the oven. Turn the oven to broil mode. With tongs, turn the mushrooms over. Spoon over the sauce. Broil 2-4 minutes. Sprinkle with some chopped cilantro or parsley. Serve immediately.
Wow!!!!