COOKING WITH CANNABIS AND MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS

COOKING WITH CANNABIS

Before learning to cook with cannabis, the extent of my cannabis culinary skills included putting my CBD oil tincture into my coffee or adding it to a batch of homemade cookies. That all changed when I met Chef Chris Herko of Seasoned Brooklyn, who frequently hosts cannabis-infused dinner parties. I had never infused cannabis flower into food before (the oldest trick in the book when it comes to making cannabis edibles), so you can imagine my fascination when he told me he was a chef who makes cannabis-infused meals.

Chef Chris agreed to give me some cooking lessons using high-CBD strains of cannabis, and now I get to pass these CBD-infused delights on to you.

While you can simply add your CBD oil tincture directly into your food and drinks (it’s a quick and easy way to infuse more cannabinoids into your everyday life), cooking with the cannabis flower is more of a culinary experience. Using CBD-rich strains of cannabis, you can create foundational ingredients like infused butter, coconut oil, and olive oil—and keep using them again and again to add healing cannabinoids to your favorite dishes.

During my cannabis cooking crash course, we infused all three of those foundational ingredients (butter, olive oil, and coconut oil), then cooked a full cannabis-infused meal so I could see firsthand exactly how to incorporate the infused butter and oil into different dishes.

We used infused olive oil for a salad dressing, infused butter on our salmon and veggies, and infused coconut oil to make sautéed peaches for dessert.

During the infused meal, we calculated that we consumed about 100 mg total of CBD each. That’s a pretty high dose of CBD for most people—but because the strain we used had barely any THC in it, I didn’t feel any intoxicating effects at all. I did, however, feel very relaxed, cheerful, and at ease about an hour after eating—and I slept very well that night. Thank you, CBD!

Now, I have CBD-infused butter, olive oil, and coconut oil in my kitchen ready to add to any dish, and I frequently buy CBD-rich cannabis flower to use in my cooking. These days, I make CBD cookies using my own homemade “cannabutter”—an incredibly delicious way to get your medicine!

Cannabis Cooking with High-CBD Strains

Historically, making cannabis edibles has been all about optimizing for THC content, for the strongest high. You may have had an experience with THC-rich edibles yourself—and if you took more than you meant to, you know very well that it’s difficult to control dosing. The first time I ate a THC-rich edible was in college (at the MardiGrass cannabis festival in Nimbin, Australia), and I definitely wasn’t expecting such strong effects—I had to lie down outside on a blanket for hours! When consuming edibles, it can be all too easy to ingest way too much THC, which converts to the more psychoactive 11-hydroxy-THC as it passes through the liver and digestive system.

Here in The Rebel’s Apothecary, we are optimizing for high-CBD edibles, so we can get all the benefits of CBD while we enjoy our infused meal, without feeling intoxicated. While you can absolutely use any of the recipes in this book with high-THC cannabis if you so desire, my focus here is to use CBD-rich flower. Eating CBD-rich cannabis edibles may leave you feeling very relaxed, or even sleepy in some cases (CBD-infused dessert before bed, anyone?), and if you use the right kind of CBD flower to start with, you’ll have a nonintoxicating, delicious experience infusing your medicine into everyday foods.

CBD Edibles as Medicine

Consuming CBD orally (i.e., eating it or drinking it) is often a less bioavailable way to consume it as a medicine (bioavailability refers to how much of the CBD is actually absorbed by the body), and it can be more difficult to control dosing. Everyone has a different digestive system, and dosing with edibles depends on how much CBD is contained in each serving, which can also be difficult to accurately measure. So, while it’s definitely not the most streamlined method of consuming a specific dose of CBD, consuming an edible can be an easy and fun way to get more cannabinoids into your system and deliver some potent benefits.

Keep in mind that with edibles, you will likely need to wait longer to feel the effects than with other methods of delivery. It could be as long as 90–120 minutes until you feel any effects, rather than about 15 minutes with a tincture, or immediately with inhalation. While eating cannabis-infused food is definitely not the fastest way to symptom relief, the effects typically last a few hours longer. For this reason, many people swear by using edibles for pain and sleep, as the relaxing effects can last through the night.

So if you’re looking to make a delicious dish, relax a little, get some extra cannabinoids into your body, and have some fun doing it . . . look no further than cooking with high-CBD cannabis!

First, Decide What You Want to Infuse

I love having a foundational, everyday-use CBD-infused product in my kitchen—olive oil, coconut oil, and butter are all great choices that you can keep on hand and use anytime you’d normally use butter or oil. Cannabis is fat soluble, or lipophilic (fat-loving), so consuming it in foods with fats will make the medicinal compounds more bioavailable.

Cannabutter is the ultimate cannabis-infused staple, especially for baked goods—so it can be a good place to start if you frequently use butter in your cooking. The best cooking fat to infuse is the one you love most and use most frequently. If you make salad dressings a lot, you may love an infused olive oil. If you’re one who uses coconut oil for everything, make a batch of infused coconut oil to have on hand (which can also be fantastic on your skin as a topical).

Finding High-CBD Flower

If you’ve only had experience with CBD in the form of tinctures, capsules, or topicals, the day you decide to start infusing food with cannabis may be your first time handling raw CBD flower. It was for me. High-CBD flower is simply a cannabis strain that has been bred for high CBD levels and very low to negligible THC levels. It looks exactly like other cannabis flower you may have seen before, and usually people are surprised when I show it to them. “That’s CBD? But it looks just like weed!” And it is weed—just not the kind that gets you high.

When you’re making CBD-infused foods, you’ll need to start with a high-CBD strain of raw cannabis—when I say “raw,” I just mean it hasn’t been heated (or decarboxylated) yet. You can find raw CBD flower at a dispensary, a CBD store, online (I’ve ordered from an Oregon-based company called Fields of Hemp), or perhaps from a friend who grew it in their backyard (you can order high-CBD seeds online, too)! No matter which way you choose to obtain them, make sure you’re getting your hands on high-quality, lab-tested, CBD-rich buds. If you want to avoid feeling high, make sure you talk to your budtender and get a strain of cannabis with high percentages of CBD and low THC (either a hemp-based CBD strain with .3 percent or less THC, or a 30:1 CBD-to-THC strain if you have access to more options).

Again, the more THC in your raw flower, the greater the chance you’ll get a visit from that extra-intoxicating surprise friend, 11-hydroxy-THC, after you eat.

Next: To Decarb or Not to Decarb?

As you may remember, raw cannabis flower needs to be decarboxylated (“decarbed,” or heated) in order for THC and CBD to become activated. The natural compounds in the raw cannabis buds before heating are the acid cannabinoids, THCA and CBDA. When cannabis is heated, the A—or acid—molecule is dropped in the process, and the acid cannabinoids are converted to THC and CBD. If your cannabis isn’t properly decarbed, you won’t feel the effects of the THC or the CBD when you eat your edible.

Most often in cannabis-infused cooking, the goal is to activate as much THC or CBD as possible, but remember—the acid cannabinoids have their own health benefits, too.

When you’re making a cannabis-infused cooking fat (such as a butter or an oil), you will be heating the butter or oil until it’s liquid, adding the cannabis, and letting it simmer until the compounds in the cannabis are extracted from the plant and into the cooking liquid.

Although some decarboxylation will happen during this infusion process, some cannabis cooking enthusiasts swear by decarbing the raw flower in the oven before making an infused butter or oil. This way, they don’t take the chance that it won’t decarb fully in the heated liquid (which would result in a weaker infusion if you’re optimizing for THC or CBD content).

Other cannabis cooks insist that the flower is, in fact, decarbed adequately during the infusion and subsequent meal-cooking process.

You can choose to decarb or not to decarb before you infuse, but I believe decarboxylation isn’t necessary before infusing if you’re not focused on the THC high. Since we’re going for non-intoxicating infused foods here, we can afford to keep some of those friendly acid cannabinoids in there.

Raw cannabis is still medicinal, even when it hasn’t been decarboxylated. Although the acid cannabinoids don’t currently have as much popularity as THC and CBD, research has shown that both THCA and CBDA have anti-inflammatory, antinausea, and pain-relieving properties. This is why some people make juices or teas out of raw cannabis, to get the benefits of those acid cannabinoids without putting all the focus on THC or CBD.

As a bonus, you can even grind your raw cannabis and sprinkle it onto food as you would other herbs such as thyme or rosemary (as long as you like the taste of cannabis)!

If you’re wondering about decarbing when it comes to CBD oil tinctures, all tinctures you purchase have already been decarbed (unless the tincture label specifically says “raw” and “CBDA” or “THCA” on it). When it comes to cooking with tinctures, as Chef Chris says: “It’s as simple as putting whatever dosage you’d like into a drink, on top of food, or into any recipe.”

How to Decarb Your Flower

Let’s say you do want to fully decarb your flower before making an infusion, because the CBD or THC is what you care about most. Activating the CBD and THC in the raw cannabis without destroying cannabinoids and terpenes in the process is a matter of precision. The temperature at which cannabis begins to decarboxylate is about 220°F or 104°C. Many cannabis chefs recommend decarbing at temperatures between 220°F and 230°F, and not letting your cannabis heat to more than 300°F, as CBD can begin to evaporate at 320°F and terpenes begin to evaporate at temperatures above 300°F, too.

DECARB INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat your oven to 230°F. Break up your raw cannabis flower into small pieces with your hands (or grind the flower with a grinder) and spread the cannabis flower evenly on a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. The pieces of cannabis flower should be small enough that they can heat evenly all the way through. Bake for 30–45 minutes. It can be helpful to use an oven thermometer to make sure the temperature inside your oven is the same temperature it says on the outside, so you don’t risk damaging your cannabinoids and terpenes at temperatures higher than 300°F. Keep an eye on your flower to make sure it doesn’t burn. Once you’ve baked it and it’s turned from green to a light brown color, you’re decarbed and ready for cooking action.

HOW TO MAKE CBD-INFUSED BUTTER, OLIVE OIL, OR COCONUT OIL

Cannabutter or canna-oil is exactly what it sounds like—butter or oil, delightfully infused with cannabis. To make a cannabis-infused butter or oil, you have a couple of options. If you have cheesecloth, you can make a little sachet of cannabis flower and tie it up tightly, so no stray buds will get into your butter or oil. Alternatively, if you prefer a wilder way to cook it, you can just add the flower directly to the butter or oil—you’ll have to strain it out afterward with a fine-mesh strainer.

Start with 8 oz. (1 cup) butter or oil and ¼ oz. of CBD-rich cannabis flower (adjust amounts as desired; calculations for determining how much CBD will be in your infusion are outlined in the next section).

If preferred, decarboxylate your flower before infusing.

Grind cannabis flower with an herb grinder (which you can find at a cannabis dispensary or smoke shop, or order online) or break buds into very tiny pieces with your hands and wrap in cheesecloth, tying it at the top to form a sachet.

Place the butter or oil in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water on low heat, so as not to burn it.

Add the sachet of CBD-rich cannabis flower to your butter or oil.

Simmer your sachet of cannabis in the butter or oil over low heat for about 2 hours. Both the butter and oil will turn green from the cannabis infusion, which is part of the fun. After 2 hours of simmering, you can remove the sachet or strain out the plant matter.

Use a kitchen thermometer to make sure the temperature of the butter or oil doesn’t go above 300°F, so you can preserve the cannabinoids and terpenes.

Once it’s infused, pour all of your beautiful green butter or oil into a separate container and squeeze or press the sachet (watch out, it’s hot!) until all the butter or oil has been removed. If you didn’t use a sachet and you just simmered the nuggets of cannabis right in the liquid, just get a very fine mesh strainer, strain out the plant matter, and discard it. Use the butter or oil as you normally would with any food.

How to Calculate the Amount of CBD in Your Butter or Oil

In order to calculate the amount of CBD that will be infused into your butter or oil, you must know two things: how much flower you have (in grams) and the percentage of CBD in that flower (all dispensaries will have this information available when you purchase the flower).

Let’s say you have 1 g of CBD-rich cannabis flower that measures in at 15 percent CBD.

BECAUSE 1 G EQUALS 1000 MG, THERE ARE 150 MG TOTAL CBD IN YOUR 1 G OF DRY HERB (15 PERCENT OF 1000 MG = 150 MG).

Weight conversions, for reference (this is the dry weight of the flower, not the amount of CBD):

¼ OZ. OF FLOWER = 7 G

1/8 OZ. OF FLOWER = 3.5 G

Now that we understand that calculation, let’s pretend we’re cooking with ¼ oz. of cannabis flower, or 7 g. Since we know there’s 150 mg of CBD per gram, the total amount of CBD we have available is 1050 mg.

This calculation is the total amount of CBD available once it has been decarboxylated. If you choose not to decarboxylate your cannabis flower first, you will have varying amounts of CBD and CBDA present.

Keep in mind, however, that this is the maximum number of milligrams of CBD that could potentially be consumed. It will likely be less, due to a few different factors: All the CBD may not be extracted from the flower into the butter or oil, and you will not absorb all of the CBD through the digestive tract. So while it’s helpful to understand ballpark ranges for edibles, remember that consuming cannabis edibles is not the most accurate way to get a very specific dose.

Calculating the Amount of CBD in 1 Tablespoon of Butter or Oil

¼ OZ. (OR 7 G) OF CANNABIS FLOWER, DECARBOXYLATED

15 PERCENT CBD

150 MG CBD PER GRAM, 1050 MG MAXIMUM TOTAL AVAILABLE CBD

8 OZ. BUTTER OR OIL = 16 TBSP.

THIS EQUALS ABOUT 65.6 MG TOTAL CBD PER TABLESPOON, IF EVENLY DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE BUTTER OR OIL. (1050 MG OF CBD DIVIDED BY 16 TBSP. OF BUTTER).

Let’s say we’re using 4 Tbsp. (¼ cup) of cannabutter in a batch of cookies. In this scenario, we’d have about 260 mg of CBD spread throughout the entire batch of cookies.

260 MG / 12 COOKIES = ABOUT 22 MG TOTAL CBD PER COOKIE. ADJUST AMOUNTS AS DESIRED.

General Cannabis Cooking Tips:

Using Cannabis-Infused Butter or Oil

When using your cannabis-infused butter or oil for cooking, the lower the temperature, the better if you want to preserve the most medicine. If you cook your cannabis oil or butter at high temperatures (i.e., sautéing) or put it over direct high heat, some of the cannabinoids and terpenes can be destroyed. This doesn’t mean you can’t do it—plenty of cannabis chefs use their cannabutter to scramble eggs or make stir-fry with canna–coconut oil—but if you’re going to sauté in a pan, do so over low heat. Baking isn’t a threat to the cannabinoids and terpenes—the internal temperature of baked goods doesn’t go above 300°F, even if you’re baking at temperatures higher than that.

Ideas for using your infused cannabutter or canna-oil:

GLUTEN-FREE CBD CHOCOLATE-CHIP (OR BLUEBERRY) COOKIES

This is a CBD-rich twist on one of the most popular cookie recipes on my blog, and my new favorite way to use cannabutter. I make these cookies for every holiday, and often give them to people I love as gifts. I’ve upgraded my normal recipe to include cannabutter (you can also use canna–coconut oil here instead of butter) to infuse these cookies with CBD. An alternative to this recipe that I love making in the summertime is blueberry cookies—I swap the chocolate for fresh blueberries, using the same recipe.

Makes 12 cookies

2 cups almond flour

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. sea salt

¼ cup honey

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

¼ cup CBD-infused coconut oil or grass-fed butter (this page)—if you don’t have infused butter or oil, you can use plain butter or coconut oil, and add a few dropperfuls of your favorite CBD tincture, at your preferred dosage. Keep in mind, a flavored tincture will affect the taste.

1 (2-oz.) bar of high-quality dark chocolate—I use Hu Kitchen chocolate bars. You can substitute ½ cup of fresh blueberries here to make the blueberry version of these cookies.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Add almond flour, baking soda, and sea salt to food processor or high-speed blender and mix well. (You can simply stir with a fork or whisk instead of blending/food-processing, but the texture of the dough won’t be as smooth.)

Add honey, vanilla, and coconut oil or butter to the mixture.

Mix well (or pulse if you’re using a food processor) until it becomes a dough.

Transfer dough to a bowl.

Chop up chocolate bar and add the chocolate pieces to the dough.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls (using 1–2 Tbsp. dough for each cookie) and line on cookie sheet on parchment paper. Pat down with fingers. If using blueberries, add 2–3 blueberries to each cookie once the balls of dough are on the cookie sheet and press blueberries into the dough.

Bake for 6–9 minutes (yes, that’s it!), until golden brown. Let cool before serving.

SAUTÉED PEACHES AND FIGS WITH CANNA–COCONUT OIL

CONTRIBUTED BY CHEF CHRIS HERKO

Chef Chris made this for dessert during my cannabis cooking lesson, and the flavors were amazing. I love fruit for dessert, especially with a savory bit of ricotta and a pinch of sea salt. You can use your infused cannabutter or canna-oil here. Remember, it’s best to use cannabis cooking fats at lower temperatures, so keep it as low as possible to preserve the most cannabinoids and terpenes.

4 servings

2 peaches

1 pint fresh figs

1 Tbsp. infused coconut oil or infused butter (this page)

1 Tbsp. honey

1 cup ricotta

Maldon Sea Salt

½ cup pepitas, toasted

3 sprigs thyme

Zest of 1 lime

Remove pits from the peaches and cut into slices. Cut all figs in half lengthwise.

Melt infused coconut oil or butter in a pan over low heat and add figs and peaches. Cook on low until tender, 3–5 minutes. Let sit in warm pan until ready to plate.

While the fruit is cooking, mix honey and ricotta in a bowl—add a pinch of salt if desired.

Smear a scoop of the ricotta/honey mixture onto each plate and scoop equal portions of fruit over top of the ricotta. Sprinkle with toasted pepitas.

Remove thyme sprigs from stems and sprinkle on top as a garnish.

Sprinkle with lime zest and top with a pinch of Maldon Sea Salt.

INFUSED ORANGE VINAIGRETTE

CONTRIBUTED BY CHEF CHRIS HERKO

This is just one of many ways you can use CBD-infused olive oil! Use this bright, citrusy CBD-infused dressing on your favorite salad. If you don’t have CBD-infused olive oil, you can add your favorite unflavored CBD tincture to this recipe at your preferred dose. This dressing is wonderful on a salad of mixed greens with chopped beets and feta.

Makes 2 cups of dressing

4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 shallot, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped

½ cup orange juice (fresh-squeezed if possible; from about 2 large oranges)

Zest of 2 oranges (optional)

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

½ cup CBD-infused extra-virgin olive oil (this page)

Add all ingredients to a blender except oil.

Blend until smooth.

While blending, slowly drizzle oil into blender in a thin stream, to emulsify.

Serve or keep refrigerated. Keeps for 1 month.

Shake well (as oil will separate) to re-emulsify before using.

CBD TAHINI DRESSING (“POUR THIS ON EVERYTHING” SAUCE)

Tahini dressing is my all-time favorite sauce to pour on my salads and roasted veggies. I always use olive oil when making it, and using CBD-infused olive oil makes this dressing even more nourishing and delicious. My suggestion is to make a pan of roasted veggies (brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and broccoli are all great choices), and drizzle this tahini sauce all over them. And while you’re at it, pour it on any other savory dish you can think of! Another favorite way to use it is on top of a fresh arugula salad with sliced cucumbers.

Makes about 1 cup of dressing—double or triple the recipe and keep it in a jar in the fridge if you love it as much as I do! Generally, equal parts water and tahini work well—but feel free to add either more water (thinner dressing) or more tahini (thicker dressing).

½ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)

½ cup water

2 Tbsp. CBD-infused olive oil (this page), or 2 Tbsp. olive oil + your preferred dosage of your CBD tincture, preferably unflavored

1 clove garlic

¼ cup lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon), plus more to taste

½ tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste

½ tsp. black pepper

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend.

Add more water or olive oil to make a thinner sauce, and add more tahini for a thicker sauce.

Add more salt or lemon juice to taste.

Once well blended, pour over salads, veggies, or any savory dish! You can also use this tahini sauce as a dip for raw veggies.

You’ll find more CBD-infused recipes sprinkled throughout the rest of this book.

COOKING WITH MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS

Of all the mushrooms we’re focusing on in The Rebel’s Apothecary, there are three we’ve learned about so far that are considered “culinary,” and therefore great for cooking—shiitake, maitake, and lion’s mane. Cooking with mushrooms is one of the easiest ways to infuse their healing properties into your life.

Because of their texture, taste, and consistency, reishi, chaga, turkey tail, and cordyceps are all typically extracted for use in teas, powders, tinctures, or capsules rather than cooked and eaten. You can, however, add the powdered extracts of these mushrooms into any dish to enhance the medicinal properties of your food.

There are other incredible culinary mushrooms you might see at your local grocery store, and they have plenty of nutritional properties, too—so have fun experimenting with mushrooms like chanterelles, oysters, or trumpets.

If you want to try your hand at mushroom cooking (and I suggest you do), you can’t go wrong by cooking any edible mushroom in a pan with butter, garlic, salt, and pepper. If you don’t eat dairy, you can use coconut oil instead of butter, which adds a delicious coconut flavor to the mushrooms.

To prepare them, slice or chop up your mushrooms, put them into a pan with butter or oil, a chopped-up clove of garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook them until they’re browned and have a slight crisp to them.

The cooking time will be different with each mushroom and will also depend on how much water is in the mushroom—if you wash them before cooking, you will want to dry them well first to let the water soak out. Otherwise, you’ll lengthen your cooking time because the water will have to cook out before they can get crispy.

Shiitakes are easy to find and very versatile, so you can throw them into the pan anytime you’re cooking veggies. Maitake mushrooms, like shiitakes, are perfect when sautéed or baked. If I’m making a salad, eggs, rice dish, or pasta dish, I love to sauté either shiitakes or maitakes in a pan separately, and add them into the dish once they’re crisp.

If you’re cooking lion’s mane mushrooms, it’s often suggested not to wash them first if you can get away with it (unless there’s a lot of dirt on them, of course). If you can brush the dirt off easily without washing, do so. Those babies soak up water like a sponge! When cooking with lion’s mane, slice or chop the lion’s mane and cook in a pan with butter or coconut oil until golden brown, and sprinkle with sea salt.

Cooking with Dried Mushrooms

Dried mushrooms can add a lot of flavor to any dish. In order to cook with them, you’ll want to soak them first to rehydrate them. Add your dried mushrooms to a bowl of warm water and let them soak for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you can remove the mushrooms, rinse, and add them to sauces, stews, stir-fries, eggs, rice dishes, or any other dish where you want to pack in some mushroom flavor. You can also use the soaking water, but strain it with a fine-mesh strainer first to get rid of any “grit” from the mushrooms that has settled at the bottom of the bowl.

The only time you don’t need to rehydrate your mushrooms is if you’re making tea or broth (two recipes are coming up next!)—in those cases, you’ll just add the dried mushrooms to water.

You’ll find medicinal mushroom recipes sprinkled throughout the rest of this book—some from me, some from friends and chefs. Next up are a few recipes using the edible cooking mushrooms—shiitake, maitake, and lion’s mane. Get creative with your mushroom cooking, and enjoy the health-enhancing benefits!

SHIITAKE OR MAITAKE BACON

Mushroom bacon has become one of my medicinal mushroom staple foods, and one of my favorite things to make for dinner with my friends. Mushroom bacon adds a satisfying (and medicinal) crunch to any salad or meal. I’ve tried this recipe with shiitake and maitake mushrooms, and it works well with both. Don’t blame me if you get addicted to eating mushrooms this way!

About 2 cups chopped shiitake (stems removed) or maitake mushrooms, cut into thin slices—enough to line a baking sheet.

1 Tbsp. coconut oil

1 Tbsp. tamari (wheat-free soy sauce), or coconut aminos if you’re soy-free

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Add the sliced mushrooms to a bowl and gently coat them with the coconut oil.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and arrange the mushrooms on the parchment paper so they aren’t overlapping one another.

Bake mushrooms for 30 minutes, or until they are lightly browned and crispy. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, remove pan from oven, sprinkle tamari or coconut aminos over the mushrooms, and put back into the oven. (The reason to wait until the end of cooking is because the tamari can burn easily if you add it at the beginning.)

Remove mushrooms from the pan and put them on a paper towel to blot the oil if needed, just as you would regular bacon. Add to any meal, or eat them alone as a snack!

Note: Just as with regular bacon, you can also make your mushroom bacon in a pan—use the same recipe but put the chopped-up mushrooms in a skillet instead of in the oven. Cook with coconut oil, and splash with tamari or aminos right before removing from the heat. Transfer the mushroom bacon to a paper towel to blot out oil before serving.

MY FAVORITE MASSAGED KALE SALAD (GREAT FOR MUSHROOM BACON!):

Makes 2 servings

1 bunch of raw kale, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 avocado, skin and pit removed

Pinch of sea salt

½ cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

½ cup feta, crumbled

½ cup mushroom bacon (this page)

Add kale pieces to bowl and squeeze lemon juice over the kale. Add the avocado and pinch of sea salt to the bowl.

Massage the lemon, avocado, and salt into the kale with your hands until the kale is soft (about 5 minutes). Add the cherry tomatoes, feta, and the mushroom bacon. Mix gently and enjoy!

LION’S MANE BRAISED IN COCONUT

CONTRIBUTED BY CHEF SEAMUS MULLEN

This recipe is from my friend Seamus Mullen, an award-winning New York City chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. His meals are always both delicious and health focused, and in this recipe he takes lion’s mane cooking to the next level. Lion’s mane has the texture of lobster or crab, and it pairs perfectly with the coconut milk, lime, and cilantro here. The flavors in this dish are out of this world!

Makes 2 servings

2 Tbsp. coconut oil

4 cups fresh lion’s mane mushrooms, chopped

½ cup unsweetened coconut milk

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Zest and juice of 1 lime

Fresh cilantro, as garnish

Heat coconut oil in a sauté pan over high heat, add chopped lion’s mane to the pan, and quickly brown lion’s mane.

When lion’s mane is golden brown, add coconut milk and sliced garlic. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove from heat.

Season with salt and pepper and finish with lime zest, lime juice, and fresh cilantro to taste.

SHIITAKE MUSHROOM BROTH

CONTRIBUTED BY CHEF MARCO CANORA

Chef Marco Canora’s Hearth Restaurant is my favorite restaurant in all of Manhattan. He also owns Brodo Bone Broth Company—they make the best bone broths and mushroom broths in the city. He’s contributed this savory shiitake broth using dried shiitakes, which is perfect for boosting immunity during those cold winter months (or anytime!).

Makes about 4 quarts of broth—you can cut this recipe in half to make less, or double it to make more. Put the extra broth in the freezer and use it in soups or stews or as a sipping broth anytime.

2 large onions, peeled

1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups dried shiitake mushrooms

6 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

2 bay leaves

¼ bunch fresh thyme

½ Tbsp. black peppercorns

1 whole head of garlic, cut in half

Fine sea salt to taste

Cut 1 onion in half crosswise. Coarsely chop the remaining onion and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the halved onion, cut-side down. Brown the onion halves for 4–5 minutes without moving them.

Place the browned onions and the rest of the ingredients (except salt) in an 8-qt. pot (or a 16-qt. pot if doubling the recipe). Add cold water to cover all ingredients by 2 or 3 inches.

Bring to boil over high heat for about 40 minutes, skimming any foam every 15–20 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2–3 hours, skimming occasionally.

Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer. Remove and discard all solid ingredients.

Season with salt to taste.

Keeps for 5 days in the refrigerator and 6 months in the freezer.

SHIITAKE GRAVY

This is the best gravy I’ve ever tasted in my life. It’s thick, creamy, savory, and everything you could want in a gravy. As an added bonus, it’s gluten-free, dairy free, and full of potent shiitake medicine! I make this gravy at every holiday dinner, and it’s everyone’s favorite part of the meal. Throughout the years, I’ve had many of my blog readers start making this gravy at their own holiday dinners, with much fanfare. Even the people in your life who don’t think they like mushrooms will be instantly converted with this gravy!

Makes 3–4 cups of gravy, depending on how much water you add

6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups chopped and stemmed shiitake mushrooms

1 cup chopped yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

½ cup brown rice flour (or other gluten-free flour)

2 cups water

¼ cup wheat-free tamari

2 tsp. fresh thyme, stripped from stem

2 tsp. fresh rosemary, stripped from stem

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Add 3 Tbsp. olive oil to a sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms are soft (about 5 minutes).

In a separate pan, add brown rice flour, and whisk in the remaining 3 Tbsp. oil, water, tamari, herbs, and black pepper. Bring to a boil and whisk until gravy is thick (about 10 minutes).

Add the gravy mix and onion/mushroom/garlic mix to a blender and blend until smooth. If your gravy is too thick, add more water a little bit at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Make sure to hold your hand over the top of the blender with a towel while blending, so the hot gravy doesn’t pop the top off!

Pour hot gravy over all of your favorite holiday foods.

GRILLED MAITAKE MUSHROOMS

CONTRIBUTED BY CHEF WILL HICKOX

Here’s a simple and delicious way to cook maitake mushrooms, from my friend Chef Will Hickox. Chef Will’s master cooking skills have graced the kitchens of some of the best New York City restaurants, and here he teaches us to make maitake on the grill—an awesome idea for outdoor BBQs. If you don’t have a grill, you can easily make this recipe in a pan on your stove using the same directions.

Makes 2–4 servings, depending on size of mushroom

1 clove garlic, peeled

1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled

3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 maitake head, sliced in quarters

Zest and juice of ½ lemon

2 Tbsp. finely minced parsley

Sea salt, to taste

Heat up grill, on low heat.

In a bowl, grate garlic and ginger with a Microplane into olive oil.

Toss maitake with half of the oil mixture, plus sea salt to taste.

Grill maitake until soft and slightly charred, turning as needed to prevent burning. Remove from grill.

Add lemon zest to the remaining half of the oil mixture, and add minced parsley.

Add lemon juice to oil mixture.

Dress the grilled maitake with the oil/lemon juice/parsley mixture.

Enjoy!

MAITAKE MINT TEA

CONTRIBUTED BY TRADD COTTER

This is the tea that was always on tap at Mushroom Mountain in South Carolina, where I attended a medicinal mushroom seminar. Tradd Cotter is the author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycordemediation and grows an abundance of different medicinal mushrooms at his research facility. This maitake tea is easy to make, and another great way to get the immune-enhancing, blood-sugar-stabilizing effects of the dancing mushroom.

Makes 2 servings

4 cups water

2 Tbsp. dried maitake pieces

10 fresh mint leaves

A touch of honey, to taste (optional)

In a pot, bring water to a boil and then reduce to a low simmer. Add dried maitake and fresh mint leaves and simmer for 15 minutes. Pour liquid through strainer into a mug, and sip. If you’d like to add sweetener, add a touch of honey.

REBEL’S GREEN SMOOTHIE

Green smoothies have been one of my favorite go-to healthy recipes for over a decade now—I’ve been making them ever since I first started my health coach training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I love a creamy, cinnamon-packed green smoothie—I use a little bit of avocado to get that creaminess. Here, I’ve upgraded one of my all-time favorite green smoothie recipes to “rebel style,” adding both CBD and mushrooms!

Makes 1 serving

1 cup coconut water

1 cup spinach

1–2 Tbsp. almond butter

¼ avocado

1 tsp. cinnamon (or more to taste)

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. mushroom powder extract (a mushroom blend, or a single mushroom—your choice!)

1 dropperful of CBD oil at your preferred dosage (a mint chocolate flavor is amazing here, but unflavored works well, too)

Pinch of sea salt

Add all ingredients to a blender, blend, and sip. Coconut water makes this smoothie slightly sweet, but if you want even more sweetness, you can use ½ banana instead of avocado, or add a few drops of vanilla stevia.

MAKE YOUR OWN MUSHROOM TINCTURE

DIRECTIONS PROVIDED BY JOHN MICHELOTTI OF CATSKILL FUNGI

If you’re the DIY type, you’ll love creating your own medicinal mushroom tincture at home. At a workshop in Brooklyn, I learned to make a chaga tincture under the guidance of John Michelotti of Catskill Fungi. He was kind enough to share his chaga tincture recipe with us here—and he says we can use this to make tinctures with any of the medicinal mushrooms in this book! At Catskill Fungi, the tinctures are all triple-extracted (in alcohol, cold water, and hot water). This ensures you get all the medicine from the mushrooms—including beta glucans (hot water), triterpenes (alcohol), and enzymes/metabolites (cold water), all of which have health benefits. Happy tincture making!

STEP 1: ALCOHOL EXTRACT

1 tsp. powdered chaga

2 fl oz. (¼ cup) high-proof alcohol—93 percent alcohol or 186 proof

Add both to a tincture bottle, keep on your countertop, and shake every day for 4 weeks.

After 4 weeks, strain the mushroom from the liquid and set liquid aside. We will be using the strained mushroom material in the next step.

STEP 2: COLD-WATER EXTRACT

Take the mushroom powder that was strained from alcohol and add it to 2 fl oz. (¼ cup) pure cold water.

Keep refrigerated and shake every 8 hours for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, strain mushroom from liquid, keep the liquid, and store in fridge. We will use the strained mushroom material in the next step.

STEP 3: HOT-WATER EXTRACT

Take the mushroom that was strained from the alcohol and cold water, and place in a pot. Add 6 fl oz. (¾ cup) water, heat to boiling on the stove below 180°F (the stove’s low setting) until it’s reduced to 2 fl oz (¼ cup).

Strain mushroom from liquid, discard mushroom, and let liquid cool.

STEP 4: COMBINE ALL 3 LIQUIDS

Combine 2 oz. liquid from each extraction into a 6-oz. tincture bottle. Store out of direct sunlight.

Take 2 dropperfuls per day. Makes a 3-month supply of triple-extracted chaga extract.

This process can be done with any of the other medicinal mushrooms as well.

CANNABIS AND MUSHROOM WELLNESS PROTOCOLS

Now that you’re familiar with the many healing benefits that cannabis and medicinal mushrooms can provide, it’s time to learn how to use them for some of the most everyday common wellness concerns. As a health coach, I talk to people about wellness constantly. Some of the most common things I hear people struggling with are sleep, pain, anxiety, stress, energy, focus, mood, and immunity.

I’ve provided cannabis and mushroom suggestions to help with all of these concerns in the following sections (and added tips for skincare and sex drive, too!). As always, keep in mind that your body and health situation are unique, and you will likely need to experiment a little bit to find the relief you’re looking for. And if I haven’t said it enough already, work with a doctor or other health care professional to find what works best for you.

Let’s discover exactly how cannabis and mushrooms can support you in getting better sleep, having more energy, enhancing your mood, and generally feeling healthier and more vibrant every day.