Parmesan Garlic Roasted Mushrooms

With six food loving kiddos, I've learned that there are certain holiday food traditions you just can't mess with or you will "ruin Thanksgiving forever!" That was the reaction when I suggested adding a side dish of mushrooms to our traditional Thanksgiving feast.

To combat the six kill-joys I have been blessed with, I made a batch of these Parmesan Garlic Roasted Mushrooms a few weeks ago along side some gorgeous grilled steaks. It was my version of a "soft opening" for a new holiday side dish. They went over beautifully, except with my 4 year old who has become obsessive about "things" touching her food. Suddenly, all food must to be served in it's natural state with no visible seasoning or complimentary ingredient stuck to it. Yeah, right. "Eat it or don't" is the rule in our house but remember, there is no more food until breakfast :)

I acquired some monster sized mushrooms from Sam's Club so most of my mushrooms had to be cut down to a smaller size, but if your mushrooms are normal size, just roast them whole. Be prepared for these to shrink, a lot! I would say the volume was easily reduced by half. Next time, I will definitely be making a double recipe because for our big family, one pound just didn't go far enough. They were that scrumptious!

Parmesan Garlic Roasted Mushrooms

• 1 pound mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and large ones cut in half
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 2 Tb chopped olives or capers
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 C chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 Tb butter
• 1/4 C fresh parmesan cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and lightly spray a shallow casserole dish with nonstick spray. In your dish, toss together the mushrooms, garlic, oil, olives or capers, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Dot the butter evenly over the top of the mushrooms and roast for 20 minutes, stirring half way through the cooking process.

2. Remove from the oven, turn on the broiler and place the oven rack on the highest level. Sprinkle the cheese over the mushrooms, return to the oven on the top rack and broil until the cheese melts and begins to brown, about 3 minutes.