Warm Mushroom Salad With Feta & Crispy Onions

This dish has given me new hope for winter salads. You see, in the cold months I gravitate to soups and if I am going to have a salad it will be with winter greens, dried fruit, some nuts and a tart cheese to top it off. Upon my return to Canada, I tasted bland tomatoes once again so Greek Salads are deferred until next year.

Last week I caught my friend Chef Carmine Accogli sharing a warm mushroom salad recipe and  jumped up from the sofa in hunger, went to the grocer for mushrooms and came up with my rendition of this tasty fall-winter dish.

You can use any combo of mushrooms you like, I was in the mood for King and Cremini mushrooms on this occasion. The mushrooms get slow cooked on the stovetop with lots of garlic and herbs which slowly get infused into the mushrooms and when you take a bite, you’ll know what I mean.

The dressing is simple, Greek extra-virgin olive oil, Mousto-Balsamic vinegar (which is a blend of balsamic, grape must and a hint of mint) and mustard to bring everything together.

The salad is topped off with a tart Feta cheese made of goat milk, some seasonal pumpkin seeds and homemade crispy fried onions or texture and balance.

Warm Mushroom Salad

(serves 4)

For the mushrooms

2 cups sliced Cremini mushrooms

2 cups sliced King mushrooms

2 bay leaves

1 spring of fresh rosemary

handful of fresh thyme leaves

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 cloves of fresh garlic, smashed

salt and pepper

Dressing

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp. Dijon style mustard

2 Tbsp. Mousto-Balsamic vinegar

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

approx. 4 cups of seasonal salad greens

Garnishes

crumbled goat milk Feta cheese

pumpkin seeds

crispy fried onions

1. Place a heavy skillet (I like a cast iron pan) over medium-low heat and add your olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, herbs, salt and pepper and stir to coat. Allow the mushrooms to slowly cook, occasionally stirring for about 20 minutes. Reserve/keep warm.
2. In  the meantime, add all your dressing ingredients in a jar, seal and shake. Adjust seasoning/flavour and reserve.
3. Rinse your salad using a salad spinner and drain well. Shake the dressing in the jar and poor a bit then toss the greens. Add more dressing as needed.
4. Divide and plate your greens then top with warm mushrooms, sprinkle the pumpkins seeds, crumble the Feta and strip some of the crispy herbs from the skillet (where the mushrooms cooked). Drizzle with some dressing and finish with a sprinkling of crispy-fried onions.