Gestational Diabetes Recipes

I’m travelling in Mexico right now and absolutely love the word for mushrooms – hongos! And while we’re talking about it, the word ‘stuffed’ in any recipe title tends to make me wonder how it’s going to turn out. So in honour of delicious Mexican food and funny Spanish words, how about we rename this recipe, ‘Hongos Rellenos’. Olé! (Main carbohydrate ingredients listed in bold.)

Ingredients 

• 8 large (around 650g/ 23 ounces) flat or Portobello mushrooms
• Light olive oil spray
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 large bunch (about 300g/ 9 ounces) English spinach, trimmed (or use frozen)
• 250g (1 cup) low-fat ricotta (ricotta will be cooked so pregnancy-safe)
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 200g/ ~7 ounces tomato, finely chopped
• 150g/ 5 ounces lean ham, roughly chopped (ham will be cooked so pregnancy-safe) – optional
• 4 cobs freshly cooked corn (Serving suggestion)

Preheat oven to 180C/ 350 F

Trim stems from mushrooms and finely chop. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Spray lightly with oil. Cook onion for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushroom stems and cook for another 3 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and stirring, cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Place spinach in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water then set aside for 1 minute. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Squeeze out excess liquid. Chop finely and place back in bowl. Add onion mixture, ricotta, lemon rind, oregano, tomato and ham. Season with pepper.

Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Put mushrooms, open-side up, on prepared tray. Spoon mixture into each mushroom cup. Cover tray with foil and roast for 15 minutes. Remove foil and roast for another 10 minutes or until soft.

Serving suggestions: Serve with some freshly cooked corn plus either a large green salad or a generous serve of steamed or blanched vegetables. You could also add a piece of grilled meat or tofu for extra protein.