Instructions: In the past 10 years or so, the varieties of mushrooms available to us have, well, mushroomed. Today we can get such exotica as hen-of-the-woods, hedgehog and lobster mushrooms. This provides us with terrific diversity for stir-frys, pastas and quick stews. Because mushrooms cook in a hurry, they are perfect for 15-minute dinners. Already sliced mushrooms make meal preparation go even faster.

The portobello is the meatiest of all mushrooms and can thus be used as a meat substitute when the large cap is grilled, broiled or pan-fried for portobello burgers or steaks. Caps and stems can be sliced for a quick vegetarian ragout with bell peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes and served over rice, noodles or polenta.

Shiitake mushrooms are one of my favorites because they can be used in so many ways: from an Asian-style chicken soup to sauteed turkey cutlets in the recipe below. The umbrella-like cap has the look and feel of brown suede. The stems are too chewy to eat, but they can be thrown into a vegetable stock.

Chanterelles are among the most flavorful of all wild mushrooms with hints of apricot, pepper and nuts. They have a horn-like shape with colors that range from pale yellow to reddish orange. Chanterelles are expensive but more widely available than other expensive wild mushrooms such as the meaty and buttery porcini or the smoky morels.

Despite being overshadowed by more unusual and pricier fungi, button mushrooms can be quite flavorful, particularly when cooked. Here I use them raw

In a salad, but only use them raw when they are absolutely fresh. If you cant get shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms can be used with the turkey cutlets

(recipe follows).

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