Day 5 of the Immune Boosting Foods Healthy Recipes

Continuing with the 14 Healthy Immune-Boosting Foods Recipes, day 5 features Mushrooms and Salmon – both of which are super good for you. Mushrooms have medicinal purposes – they are a fungis, they scavenge on organic matter, which means they are able to absorb and elminate toxins, while Salmon is a great source for your Omega-3 Fats.

Todays recipe calls for either cremini/button mushrooms, or shiitake mushrooms, of which both are very beneficial to your body’s health. Cremini or Button mushrooms are super dense with nutrients like selenium, riboflavin, niacin, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, and more, while Shiitake mushrooms contain beta-glucan (awesome for the immune system), Beta-glucans (wide range of effects are resistance to infection, liver protection, and cardiovascular benefits), and eritadenine (which aids to lower blood cholesterol).

Now you can see how beneficial mushrooms can be for your health, but check out Salmon. Salmon is high in omega-3 fats, which helps prevent mood swings and depression, especially common in menopause. Salmon also has high levels of astaxanthin and zeaxantin, the hard-to-get antioxidants that protect the eyes from age-related damage.

So now that you have the skinny on these two immune boosting ingredients, check out the two featured recipes. Creamy Green Beans and Mushrooms compliments of Simply Recipes, and the Open Faced Salmon Sandwich with Sweet Mustard Sauce compliments of Steamy Kitchen.

Bon appetit my friends and enjoy

CREAMY GREEN BEANS AND MUSHROOMS

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4-8

You can use a combination of 3/4 lb of cremini and 1/4 pound of shiitake mushrooms for this recipe. The ratio of mushrooms to beans is 1:1. If you wanted, you could use all shiitake mushrooms, but use half as much, because they pack so much more flavor.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound green beans, fresh or frozen, cut into 1-inch pieces (if fresh, remove ends, if frozen get pre-cut)
1 pound mushrooms (cremini, button, shiitake), thickly sliced
Salt
1/2 cup onions, chopped
2 Tbs butter
1/2 cup sour cream
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp freshly chopped parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1) Put 2 quarts of water, salted with 1 tbsp of salt, in a pot to boil while you cut the mushrooms and onions.

2) Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the mushrooms to the pan and dry sauté them until they begin to release their water. Sprinkle them with a little salt. Once they have released most of their water, remove them to a bowl and set aside.

3) Add the green beans to the boiling water, and time them for 5 minutes, or until just tender. (No need to defrost frozen beans.)

4) Add butter to the hot sauté pan. Once the butter has melted, add the onions. Cook until the onions are beginning to brown.

5) As soon as the green beans are cooked just tender, strain them. Add the mushrooms to the pan with the onions, then add the green beans.

6) Remove from heat. Stir in the sour cream. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

OPEN FACED SALMON SANDICH WITH SWEET MUSTARD SAUCE

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE MUSTARD SAUCE

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE SANDWICH

1 egg
Four 4-ounce salmon fillets, about 1 inch thick, skin removed if desired
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons Sweet Mustard Sauce, (see above)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tomato cut into four 1/2 -inch slices
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
8 slices dark rye or multi-grain bread
Mixed leafy greens
1 avocado halved, pitted, and cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 teaspoons capers, drained

DIRECTIONS

1. To make the Sweet Mustard sauce, whisk together the mustard and honey in a small bowl. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking continuously. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

2. To hard boil the egg, put the egg in a small pot and fill with water to cover the egg by 1-inch. Bring the water to boil and immediately turn the heat off. Let the eggs sit in the hot water for exactly 7 minutes. Drain, rinse under cool water and peel when cool enough to handle. Cut the egg into quarters, lengthwise.

3. Heat a grill pan over high heat. Brush salmon fillets with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and grill for 2 minutes on each side.

4. Wipe the grill pan clean, brush the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil on the bread and grill the bread for 30 seconds each side, until nicely toasted (or use a toaster)

5. To assemble sandwiches, first cut each piece of salmon into 2 pieces. Layering leafy greens, tomato, avocado, egg, red onion, grilled salmon and capers on each bread slice. Spoon the sweet mustard sauce on top and serve, opened faced.