SHROOMS WITH KALE salad
So many vairations of kale salads, so many possible combinations, only lack of imagination is your limitation. For dinner especially I love a hot vegetable tossed with greens such as kale or arugula, and I often add a starch, such as farro, brown rice, lentils, black beans.
You can even toss in orzo or potatoes, sweet or russet, to make a goodness side.
The mother dressing aka lemon dressing
Juice from 1 large lemon – you need about 1/4 cup
1/4 cup olive oil
1 glove garlic, grated
salt to taste
1 small bunch kale, washed and chopped
2 cups mushroooms
2 – 4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup farro, quinoa, lentils, beans, or any starch of your choice (optional),
cooked according to package instructinos
1/2 cup chopped herbs, any
The mushroom rule that rules, is do not steam them into a mushy mess. If they have dirt on them don’t wash them just brush the dirt off. You can not sautee mushrooms that are wet, wet mushrooms are gross, which we do not want.
In a large skillet, add a few tablespoons of oil and when it reaches high heat, hot but not burning, heating but not smoking, add half the mushrooms and cook high and fast, stirring occasionally. Once browned and just cooked, remove to a platter, and cook the rest of the mushrooms. Do NOT crowd your skillet by adding all mushrooms at once. If the skillet is too croweded the mushrooms will steam, again we are not trying to SAUNA we are trying to SAUTE. You can eat raw mushrooms, so there is no need to over cook them.
Once the mushrooms are cooked, season with salt, garlic and lemon dressing. Give your kale a light massage in olive oil and season to salt, now pour the mushrooms over the kale and you are ready to eat. Adding FARRO, COUSCOUS, LENTILS, BEANS, QUINOA is always a good idea.
Cheese? Sure feta or cotija, goes great, ok you need some meat meat also, alright, bacon bits, grilled salmon, shrimp, anything you want.
Photo and Food Styling by Mimi Newman