Spinach Rice with Portobello
Two portobellos, sliced into wide strips and braised in a shrinking bouillon sauce until the liquid concentrates into a glaze. Spinach wilted into the hot brown rice, where the residual heat does the cooking. Yellow mustard stirred through the sauce.
Twenty minutes, one person, 495 calories.
Two portobellos, sliced into wide strips and braised in a shrinking bouillon sauce until the liquid concentrates into a glaze. Spinach wilted into the hot brown rice, where the residual heat does the cooking. Yellow mustard stirred through the sauce.
Twenty minutes, one person, 495 calories.
Ingredients
- brown rice 3 ounces
- red onion 0.5 piece
- portobello mushroom 2 piece
- olive oil 1 tablespoon
- water 47 ml
- vegetable bouillon cube 0.5 cube
- yellow mustard 0.5 teaspoon
- spinach 2 handful
Method
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Cook the rice according to the instructions on the package.
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Cut the onion into wedges and the portobello mushrooms into wide strips.
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Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onion and portobello mushrooms for 1 minute. Add water and the crumbled bouillon cube and let the broth reduce for 5-8 minutes. Stir in the mustard.
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Drain the rice. Stir the spinach into the hot rice, allowing the spinach to wilt. Season with pepper and salt.
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Serve the spinach rice with the portobello mushrooms.
Let the bouillon broth reduce fully in Step 3 — do not add extra water. Portobello mushrooms are one of the richest food sources of ergothioneine, a compound that leaches into cooking water at a rate of roughly 80% when you boil and drain (Nguyen et al., 2012). This recipe's reducing broth captures what leaches out and concentrates it into the sauce that stays on the plate.
Your body has a dedicated transporter for ergothioneine — a molecule found almost exclusively in mushrooms. Researchers tested what cooking does to it: the compound survived every temperature they threw at it. The loss is water, not heat. Boil mushrooms for five minutes and pour the water out? Only 20% stays in the mushroom. But eat the cooking liquid — like the reducing bouillon in this recipe — and you recover virtually all of it.
Nguyen et al. 2012 · DOIBehind this recipe
Can I use different mushrooms instead of portobello?
Yes — chestnut mushrooms, king oyster, or a mix all work. Portobello holds its shape better during the 5–8 minute braise because the cap is wide and dense, so smaller varieties may soften faster. Adjust the reduction time if the mushrooms start falling apart before the broth concentrates.
Is 14 grams of protein enough for dinner?
It depends on what surrounds this meal. At 14 grams, this plate sits below the per-meal amount most people associate with a main course. If that matters to you, pair it with a protein-rich side — a boiled egg, a handful of edamame, or a cup of Greek yogurt afterward. The recipe works as a light vegetarian dinner or as a base you build on.
Read the full evidence reviewWhy does the recipe reduce the broth instead of simmering the mushrooms in more liquid?
Flavor concentration is the obvious reason — a smaller volume of liquid carries more bouillon intensity into every strip. But there is another. Mushrooms are one of the richest food sources of ergothioneine, a compound that leaches into cooking water. Boil mushrooms and pour the water out, and roughly 80% of it leaves with the liquid. Reduce the broth and eat it as a sauce, and it stays on the plate.
Read the full evidence review
