Recipe: A Perfect Summer Salad
On a recent trip to the Farmers Market we stopped at one of our favorite organic produce stands. They were selling some nice pea shoots and the biggest, fattest, firmest portabella mushrooms I had the pleasure of seeing. I really wasn’t in the market for mushrooms on this occasion, but forgive me, it was like that moment in The Fellowship of the Rings when the hobbitses find the mushrooms and get so excited they trip over themselves and start rolling down the hill yelling Mushrooooooms!
Luckily for me there were no hills involved…
I brought them home and knew we had to eat them right away. I didn’t want to lose any of those fabulous fresh flavors or the perfect meaty texture. So I decided to really celebrate my veggie finds: mushrooms, pea shoots, arugala and eggplant. I broiled the portabellas and eggplant (remember I have no grill and can’t get one) and paired them with chevre and roasted garlic and topped with really good balsamic vinegar. This was a wonderful main course salad, perfect for all that summer weather we have been experiencing. Served with a nice crisp glass of white wine and life is good.
I served the salad with caramelized onion pumpernickel dinner rolls – a recipe which I adapted from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book that has revolutionized my life.
INGREDIENTS:
2 fresh portabella mushrooms, sliced thick
1 eggplant, sliced thick
1 red onion sliced thick
6 cloves of garlic
2 TBS olive oil
salt and pepper
4 cups fresh baby arugala
2 cups pea shoots
1/2 cup fresh torn basil leaves
4 thick slices of chevre
olive oil drizzles
drizzles of Rubio Aceto Balsamico Di Modena (Invecchiato)
salt and pepper to taste
METHOD:
Line at least 2 large cookie sheets with foil, lay all the slices of mushroom, onion, garlic cloves and eggplant on the sheets. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Broil until golden on all sides (about 5-10 minutes on each side depending on the power of your broiler).
In the meantime, wash and dry your greens, basil and peashoots and place on nice big plates.
Remove veggies from oven and place on top of greens. Place goat cheese on top of everything and drizzle with good quality fruity olive oil and balsamic. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Sam Sotiropoulos - August 11, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Tremendous! A very tantalizing salad indeed. And, like any good Hobbit, I have a penchant for mushrooms too, especially big fat Portobello shrooms. 🙂
Kat - August 11, 2008 at 1:07 pm
that sounds like an amazing salad, now if only Matt liked eggplant & mushrooms
Laurie - August 11, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Jenn, that is absolutely gorgeous and so satisfying looking!
bee - August 11, 2008 at 1:15 pm
i love the first pic.
C - August 11, 2008 at 1:23 pm
That salad looks fantastic!
Aggie - August 11, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Your salad looks so delicious…and that bread!! I really need to get that book.
T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types - August 11, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Fantastic celebration of the Farmers Market! Life is good just reading this!
Lo - August 11, 2008 at 3:24 pm
YUM!
Pea shoots are my new favorite thing, I’ve decided. I really hadn’t discovered them until this summer, and now I’m throwing them in everything — from sandwiches to salads to the top of pizza.
Since I also can’t resist a good, meaty mushroom, this salad looks like a winner to me!
Ben - August 11, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Are you also a LOTR nerd? I read the books at least once a year and watch the movie god knows how many times! Hehehe. Mushrooooooooms! :-p
The Mushroom Lady - August 11, 2008 at 3:45 pm
What a delicious recipe! The pictures are making my mouthwater as we speak! I will have to try this one for sure. Thanks for sharing.
Judy - August 11, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Oh Yummmm! Pea shoots??? Aren’t you still in Florida!!! Does that mean there is hope for me?
That salad looks so incredible! Right now though I would be real happy with just the glass of white wine!!! Cheers!
Peter G - August 11, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Ooooh! This sounds great! love all the textures here Jenn and it looks like a very filling meal!
Deborah - August 11, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Wow – I can see why those called out to you! Delicious!
Sylvia - August 11, 2008 at 5:22 pm
What a fantastic salad Jenn, I love portabella mushrooms and all those others ingredients, mainly chevre. Is a kind a salad that we certainly love here in our place
holler - August 11, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I am with you here, *drool*! I absolutely love mushrooms 🙂
Taste Memory Girl - August 11, 2008 at 6:08 pm
have been hooked on eggplant lately ~ that looks utterly luscious. sure wish the farmer’s market was closer to me…..am left with grocery store finds, always reaching for the extreme i guess!
melissa - August 11, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I’m all about the mushrooms, etc., but once again you have caught my attention with a reference of another kind. LOTR rules. 🙂
Adam - August 11, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Hahaa love the LOTR shout out. It appears we all have much more in common than we think 🙂 Love portabellas, and while you scream mushrooooms… I scream balsaaaaaamic 🙂
I really have to get that bread book huh? Everyone is raving about it.
courtney - August 11, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Both the salad and bread look so amzing. I can just imagine it alongside a glass of chilled white wine. You have captures the falvors of summer going into fall perfeclty.
Trisha - August 12, 2008 at 12:36 am
I love the idea of all these flavors together in a salad. I’ve been wondering about the Artisan Bread book. Three cheers for life-changing cookbooks!
Hot Garlic - August 12, 2008 at 6:00 am
This looks capital F FABULOUS! I love mushrooms too, what a find! I must try this life changing bread too!
Helen - August 12, 2008 at 6:35 am
Gorgeous sumemr food jenn, I love it when you go to the market and get inspired by the ingredients – fabulous!
jen of a2eatwrite - August 12, 2008 at 6:48 am
Oh my goodness, Jenn – perfect indeed! I want to try it right now, even though it’s before 7 a.m.
Bellini Valli - August 12, 2008 at 7:57 am
I love the less complicated and flavourful meals of summer Jenn. Farmers markets are so adictive aren’t they?
beth - August 12, 2008 at 8:06 am
Great combo – especially like the wine bit!! Bread rolls look delicious too.
Michele - August 12, 2008 at 8:37 am
I’m still on that wonderful soft food diet…and for some reason I never thought of eggplant. Duh! Thanks for a great inspiration for dinner tonight. And for the great suggestions that you made in your comment for soft-ish foods for me to make. I swear as soon as this ordeal is over I’m going to be stuffing myself on the crunchiest foods that I can find.
RecipeGirl - August 12, 2008 at 9:50 am
What a terrific main dish salad! I’ve been wanting to get that bread book. Will it change my life too? 🙂
Pam - August 12, 2008 at 12:20 pm
What a beautiful salad. I haven’t eaten much eggplant in my life (bad experience) but this makes me want to try it again.
Lisa - August 12, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I’m drooling here. I can never get enough mushrooms. I rarely eat eggplant, but I would be sure to enjoy it in this dish.
Marie - August 12, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I could live on eggplant and portobello’s! Your pairings here are perfection Jenn. With food like this, Life IS good!!
marye - August 12, 2008 at 7:02 pm
that looks wonderful, Jenn. I think I would eat this with Valli’s tomato salad…and call dinner complete!
The Leftover Queen - August 12, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Hi Sam! Hobbits are the best! 🙂
Wow, Kat, he doesn’t like either? 🙁
Thanks so much Laurie! It was great to eat too!
Thanks Bee! That means a lot coming from you!
Thanks C!
You should get the book, Aggie! It is awesome!
Thanks TW from one farmer’s market lover to another!
Thanks Lo! I know this year was my first time experiencing pea shoots and I really love them too! They are so versatile!
Yep, you found me out Ben! I am a HUGE LOTR geek! I am proud of it too! 😉
Wow, Mushroom Lady! That is a great compliment coming from you!
Hey Judy! I actually made this about a month ago – but I figured for the rest of the hemisphere it should be pea shoot season now! LOL! Cheers to you too!
Thanks PeterG! It actually was quite satisfying. A really enjoyable and relaxed meal.
EXACTLY, Deborah! 🙂
Thanks Sylvia! I am obsessed with chevre, I think it goes great with eggplant and portabellas!
Aren’t they just the best, Holler?
I am sorry you don’t have a market near you Ingar! You should stop by on a Saturday AM or Wednesday afternoon when you are down this way! It is great!
LOL! That is great Melissa! Another LOTR geek! YAY!
LOL Adam! Yes, after reading your blog today I see we have even more in common! And YES you NEED this book – it really is wonderful!
Thanks Courtney! You know, I am pretty ready for fall at this point! FL heat is nuts in August!
Oh it is Trisha! I just love that cookbook! 🙂
Natalie! You have to try the bread book, it totally rocks in so many ways! Glad you like the salad too!
Thanks, Helen! So do I! I love my market! I appreciate the compliment oh Queen of Salads! 🙂
LOL Jen! That is too funny! Food blogging has certainly got me craving weird foods for the hour many a time!
Me too Val! And you have got that right. I am so glad that I have one so close!
LOL, thanks Beth! Cheers! 🙂
Oh and Michele we will raise a cracker to you! I love crunchy foods, so that week that Roberto was eating soft foods, I thought I was going to die. But we did alright! 🙂
Yes, Lori! It will! I am telling you that book is worth more than gold!
Pam! I am so sorry to hear about your bad experience with eggplant. personally I love the stuff! Hope if you give it another try, it will work out better for you!
I am with you on the mushroom, Lisa! I haven’t met a mushroom I didn’t like! 🙂
Me too Marie! Thanks! Life is pretty darn good with fresh farmers market goodies!
Thanks Marye! I know, wasn’t Valli’s salad awesome??
Maggie - August 12, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I’ve been making the no-knead loaf twice a week now and those rolls sound (and look) so good I have to get my hands on a copy of the book now.
maybelles mom (feeding maybelle) - August 12, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I have everything here from my last trip to the market; excluding the chevre. I might very well do this.
Tony - August 12, 2008 at 11:57 pm
hearty salads are so yummy, especially if topped with the perfect veggies 🙂
hehe, and thanks for the viivd imagery (very much appreciated :))
nina - August 13, 2008 at 2:20 am
This is indeed a wonderful main course salad. Grilled mushrooms,mmmmmm not to even mention the other ingredients are just scrumptious.
Kirby! - August 13, 2008 at 2:23 am
dude, you should have just found some random hill to roll down with your mushrooms!! watching kids roll down hills is one of the single most hilarious images that comes to mind, so an adult rolling down a hill with handfuls of portabellas would probably be a downright gut-bustin’ sight!!!
Tom Aarons - August 13, 2008 at 6:04 am
Love the look of your roasted eggplant! Its almost like it gets more delicious the more macro the shot!!!
Tom Aarons - August 13, 2008 at 6:06 am
Love the look of the roasted eggplant. It’s almost as if it gets more delicious as the camera gets closer!
Priti - August 13, 2008 at 8:03 am
The pictures are just WOW! So gud and appealing salad..looking delicious..
Natashya - August 13, 2008 at 8:54 am
Mmm, I love portabellas. And eggplant. And cheese. And wine. I’ll be right over.
I keep seeing pea shoots everywhere in recipes but I have never seen them in real life. I hope to stumble upon a bounty of pea shoots one day so I can see what everybody is talking about!
Leslie - August 13, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I have been eyeballing that bread book! Your dinner rolls look wonderful!