By Scott Mechura EBS Food Columnist

It isn’t a fruit or vegetable, it isn’t a fiber, and it certainly isn’t a protein. Then what is a mushroom?

Other than the mouthwatering anticipation with which chefs and foragers harvest morels or golden chanterelles from the Gallatin Valley each year, or prized truffles from France or Italy, most of us don’t often give the mushroom the same attention as local beef, trout, or fresh produce.