Pan-roasted and packed full of flavor, Balsamic Mushroom Hummus is the perfect pre-dinner snack to sit down and relax with after a long day.
Given the choice between eating 3 full meals or just grazing my way through the day, I’ll chose grazing.
Every time, all the time, no questions asked.
I have inherently always been a snacker. I love food (pretty sure that’s an obvious statement) and snacking gives you that opportunity to taste different types of food all day long. Plus I don’t know about you but I’m pretty much always hungry. Alright not always – that makes me sound a little piggish but I can pretty much always eat. That sounds better, right?
Especially after a long day at work, I’m pretty much always starving by the time dinner rolls around. I always felt this way when I worked at my old 9-5 job – I’d come home, tired and exhausted and just wanted to eat something before I started to prepare dinner. Turns out, this habit hasn’t really died off working from home either or a long day baking at my off-site kitchen still leaves me wanting to graze before dinner too.
So while I always called it a pre-dinner snack, apparently, thanks to my friends from Sabra there is a proper name for this – it’s the unofficial meal.
Totally makes sense right? Not filling enough to be your full meal but certainly enough food to keep you from getting hangry at your loved ones while you do prepare dinner.
So what’s in the unofficial meal? Honestly, anything that you want it to be.
Braden and I are big fans of the type of spread you see above and truthfully the unofficial meal tends to be one of our regular meals quite often during the week. We always have a menagerie of Mediterranean-type foods + cheeses floating around our refrigerator from Bulgarian feta, pitas, labneh, nuts, fruits, olives, pickles and of course Sabra Hummus.
All of it gets pulled out and noshed on for pretty much the perfect meal.
Most of the time, our spreads are simple and there is no extra cooking involved but occasionally it is fun to fancy up the plate a little bit. That’s where these easy pan-roasted balsamic mushrooms come in.
In the time that it takes to pick out all your favorite from the fridge, get the table set up, toast the pitas, and open that bottle of wine those mushrooms are done! There’s no need to turn on the oven here, just roast the mushrooms in a skillet until the juices are released and they reduce in size by half. A quick splash of balsamic vinegar and you’ve got the best tasting mushrooms ever. I personally love it on Roasted Garlic Hummus for the extra punch of flavor.
Truthfully, I suggest just making giant batches of these mushrooms so you have them ready to go at all times. Delicious hot or cold!
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Ingredients
- 10 ounces baby bella mushrooms
- 4 ounces baby shiitake mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- kosher salt and black pepper
- Roasted Garlic Sabra Hummus
Instructions
- With a damp paper towel gently clean the mushrooms and remove the stems from both the baby bellas and shiitake mushrooms.
- Using a sharp knife, quarter the baby bella mushrooms.
- In a medium-size skillet over medium to medium-high heat drizzle 1 tablespoons of avocado or grapeseed oil and add the mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms have reduced in size by half.
- Stir in the balsamic vinegar and thyme, then continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes. The mushrooms should be tender and have a roasted look to them when they are finished cooking.
- Remove from the heat and season with kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
- Pile the mushrooms on top of your favorite Sabra Hummus or serve them on the side.
This post is sponsored on behalf of Sabra. As always all opinions are my own and thanks for supporting brands that I work with.
YES! Any way to get more balsamic in my hummus is okay by me! I love this addition to the unofficial meal!