Mushroom and White Bean Stroganoff with Brown Rice

1. Rinse the rice, then cook it in a large pan of boiling water with the 1 tsp salt for 25 to 30 minutes, until tender. Drain and keep covered.
2. Meanwhile, heat a third of the mushroom oil in a large frying pan, about 30cm/12in, over a high heat. Add a third of the mushrooms in a single layer and cook for 4 minutes, stirring only now and then, until golden. Tip onto a plate and repeat in two more batches with the rest of the mushroom oil.
3. Lower the heat to medium. Add the rest of the oil and the onion to the pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and lightly golden. Stir in the garlic and paprika and cook for 1 minute more.
4. Return the mushrooms to the pan with the stock, beans and mustard. Simmer for 5 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by about a third.
5. Mix the yogurt and cornflour together in a bowl. Take the pan off the heat and wait 1 minute, then stir in the yogurt. Return to a low heat and warm gently for 2 minutes, stirring, without letting it boil. The cornflour stops the yogurt splitting.
6. Stir in the spinach until it wilts, then season with the salt and pepper. Scatter with parsley and serve over the rice.
7. To keep leftover rice safe, cool it within an hour, keep it in the fridge and eat it within 24 hours, reheating it only once until steaming hot. The stroganoff keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days; reheat gently until piping hot. It does not freeze well, as the yogurt sauce can turn grainy.

A serving has about 19g of protein and 9g of fibre, for 459 calories, including the brown rice. Mushrooms alone are low in protein, which is why the white beans are there: they add protein and fibre without changing the character of the dish.

Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Full-fat Greek yogurt has around 5g of fat per 100g, against roughly 19g in sour cream, and about four times the protein. The catch is that yogurt splits if it boils, so the sauce is taken off the heat and the yogurt is mixed with a little cornflour first.

Why it is tagged for menopause. It is a meat-free dinner with a good amount of fibre from the beans, brown rice and spinach, and fibre-rich, plant-based meals are a common recommendation for heart health after menopause. It is not tagged for blood sugar because, with the rice, it has about 65g of carbohydrate a serving; use less rice if that matters to you.

A note on vitamin D. Mushrooms are often described as a source of vitamin D, but ordinary supermarket mushrooms contain very little. Only mushrooms exposed to UV light, which says so on the pack, provide a meaningful amount.

For another creamy mushroom dinner, try the mushroom and pearl barley risotto. For more vegetarian ideas, see the best diet for menopause.