By Boulder County Farmers Markets

We are well and truly in farmers market season, which means we’re back to filling our reusable bags with a mountain of fresh vegetables, pounds of handmade pasta, jars of pickles, and a few of those funky-looking mushrooms.

So, you make it home with all your goodies — and then what? Did you get caught up in how exciting and delicious everything looks, without any plan at all for how to use it? You’re in luck. This season, we’ll be weaving more recipes into our columns. Always using the most seasonal of ingredients, we hope to give you some inspiration to turn your farmers market haul into a delicious meal.

Since it’s April, we’re not yet in the thick of tomato, corn, or squash season. But we are lucky enough to have fresh mushrooms available year-round, thanks to our mushroom farmers who grow indoors.

While you may think of mushrooms as something to be foraged in the woods, farmers grow them in climate controlled spaces where they can ensure the fungi get enough heat and moisture to thrive. To celebrate the delicious, nutritious, and ever-impressive mushroom selection at the farmers market, we’ve got a mushroom recipe for you.

Recipe: Lion’s Mane ‘Crabcakes’

Ingredients

1 lb lion’s mane mushrooms

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons water

¼ cup minced scallion

¼ cup minced red bell pepper

½ cup panko breadcrumbs

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1 large egg

Salt, to taste

Flavorless oil, for cooking the cakes

Instructions

Pull the mushrooms apart, carefully shredding them to resemble crab meat. Simmer the shredded mushrooms with salt and water in a pan for a few minutes, until wilted. Remove from heat and, once cool, squeeze out as much water as possible from the mushrooms.

In a bowl, combine the mushrooms with scallion, red bell pepper, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, cilantro, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, egg, and salt. Let the mixture sit for at least 15 minutes (or up to overnight).

Form the mixture into 4—6 cakes and fry in a pan until both sides are golden brown. Serve with fresh greens, aioli, and lemon wedges.

Did you try out this recipe? We would love to see photos or get recipe suggestions throughout the season. Send them our way at hello@bcfm.org!