Vegan, Alpha Gal safe

Ingredients

• Lion's mane mushrooms

• Olive oil (for cooking and marinating)

• Beet juice (from canned beets)

• Lquid smoke

• Optional: soy sauce or teriyaki sauce

• Optional: black pepper and other common spices like garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika

Note on Salt

Avoid adding as much salt as one typically would when marinating meat. Mushrooms absorb and hold onto salt better during cooking, small splashes of soy or teriyaki sauce provide a salty base.

Marinate

1. Slice fresh lions mane into steak shapes about twice as thick as you'd like the final product to be (so you might start them at 1 to 2 inches thick)

2. Mix beet juice, liquid smoke, oil, and spice. Cover only the bottoms of the mushrooms in a tray; don't submerge them. Include the soy or teriyaki sauce if you want the mushrooms to appear brown all the way through; skip them to end up with a "medium rare" red interior from the beet juice, and instead add a pinch of salt.

3. Poke and press the lions mane slices into the lions mane with a fork on the tray; poking with the fork creates holes for absorption

4. Rest for 1 day for the marinade to absorb on one side, uncovered; as top surface dries, the mushrooms will draw in the marinade

5. Flip, press, and then rest for a second day to absorb the marinade until it is gone; it is good if the mushrooms fully absorb the marinade but not bad if there is some marinade left over

Tip: use any extra marinade to create jerky with leftover sliced beets from the can by letting them soak for a day and then using a food dehydrator, following its instructions for other kinds of jerky.

Option 1: Cook with Skillet

1. Sautee: add a small splash of cooking oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Add your marinated lion's mane mushrooms. Using a heavy plate or a cast-iron press, push down firmly on the mushrooms to flatten them into 1-inch thick "steaks." Flip and press until both sides are compressed and lightly browned.

2. Char Broil: For a perfect crust, transfer the cooked steaks to wax paper on a broiler-safe pan and place them under a char broiler for 1–2 minutes. Watch them closely so they get a nice char without burning.

Option 2: Cook on Grill

1. Grill: heat up and prepare your grill surface as normal. Add your marinated lion's mane mushrooms. Using a heavy plate or a cast-iron press, push down firmly on the mushrooms to flatten them into 1-inch thick "steaks." Flip and press until both sides are lightly browned.

2. Char Broil: For a perfect crust, transfer the cooked steaks to wax paper on a broiler-safe pan and place them under a char broiler for 1–2 minutes. Watch them closely so they get a nice char without burning.

Serve immediately and enjoy your perfectly textured, deeply flavorful mushroom steaks!