Portobello, shiitake, button, cremini, truffle — we’re talking mushrooms, because today (Oct. 15th) is National Mushroom Day. "Mushrooms" are the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi (a kingdom unto itself apart from animals, plants, and minerals, which means mushrooms are not plants).

There’s a variety of species, which is why we have so many types of mushrooms to choose from. They’re a staple in a vegetarian’s diet due to their umami flavor, nutritious value, texture, and hearty consistency — plus they make a delicious main dish for the culinary varieties. That means everyone can have fun celebrating National Mushroom Day.

There are lots of different ways to utilize mushrooms in cooking, so on National Mushroom Day, get creative. For example:

Invite friends, family, and coworkers over to show off their best mushroom dishes (or try a new one). Since mushrooms are so versatile, there are lots of different types of dishes to taste and judge. Plus, there are sure to be leftovers. So mushroom cravings can be satisfied long after National Mushroom Day is over.

Celebrate National Mushroom Day by getting into the great outdoors with friends, neighbors, and family and picking some fresh mushrooms. Now, many mushrooms found in the woods are not edible (CHECK ONLINE BEFORE EATING!). But eating’s not really the point of the hunt anyways. Instead, view mushroom outings as fun adventures with loved ones and strangers -- an opportunity to get out of the house or office.

There’s a mushroom that tastes like chicken (actually more than one). The Laetiporus mushroom, which grows in the wild, is said to taste almost exactly the same as fried chicken. Better and easier are tree oyster mushrooms found growing on bark.

Button mushrooms, portobello mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, and white mushrooms are not different mushrooms as the names suggest. Instead, they are the very same mushroom at different levels of maturity. The small cremini will grow into the giant portobello.

​In fact, lighting causes mushrooms to become more abundant. They like the dark and the yin energy of moonlight. When exposed to sunlight, even after they have been cut off their stalks, they produce large amounts of vegetarian Vitamin D.

White truffles, which are subterranean fungi, are known for being expensive. At 3.3 pounds, one was purchased for $330,000. The word truffle is synonymous with exquisite taste and a price tag to match the savory goodness. Most truffles are not the real thing but a synthetic flavoring or a diffusion in oil or water sprinkled onto something else to impart such flavor as would be tough to mimic in the real world.

As the weather gets cooler, nothing warms one up better than a hot bowl of soup. Luckily, mycelium (the root like filaments that feed the fruiting bodies) has a lot of flavor, and National Mushroom Day arrives in the fall — a good time for soup. So put down the pumpkin spice latte and pick up a warm bowl of vegan cream of mushroom soup.

National Mushroom Day is a good reminder to eat ‘shrooms because they’re delicious and nutritious. In fact, mushrooms have a high protein content, and they contain B vitamins, Vitamin C, calcium, potassium, zinc, and minerals. So not only is one participating in National Mushroom Day, but also doing something good for health — and we call that a double win.

Magic mushrooms (psilocybe) have mental health potential, relieving depression, anxiety, the fear of death, and PTSD symptoms ("soul retrieval" in shamanic terms). They have the potential to offer a glimpse of the spiritual world, the unseen reality all around us. Glimpsing that, life may regain its meaning and psychonauts may see that everything is just as it should be, that there's a masterplan in operation that we lost sight of. When grad students pursue mycology, it is often because the mushrooms have "spoken" to them and kicked off an insatiable curiosity for how they do all they do.

Mycologist Paul Stamets says that not only do they represent the "first tree" and the "first internet" -- the Wood Wide Web (as their mycelial filaments innervate the forest floor and breakdown plant matter to build themselves up and link root systems and individual plants into a community -- but also that mushrooms will save the world, clean it up, regenerate it.

Whether one is a vegetarian (thriving on a peaceful and ecological plant-based diet) or just wants to celebrate with someone who is — National Mushroom Day has something for everyone to enjoy.

Craving burgers? Vegetarians love indulging in mushroom burgers. (Portobello mushroom has been dubbed the “meat” of the fungi world, but there are better choices like sauteed, sliced king oyster, mycelia burgers, which are the of the future with excellent texture, and dried and rehydrated shiitake).

If the carnivorous omnivores out there are unhappy with this option, go for a Beyond Burger — topped with mushrooms in honor of National Mushroom Day. Now everyone can be happy.