Baked Mushroom and Onion Salad

Here's a newer riff on my Asian inspired mushroom salad from a few years ago. This one features oyster mushrooms, baked in foil with a sesame dressing. It's bound to brighten your day!

Ingredients: 

8 oz oyster mushrooms

1 sweet onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 Tbs turbinado sugar

2 tsp low sodium soy sauce

1 oz minced ginger

1 Tbs sesame oil

4 cups arugula or hearty mixed salad greens

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425F. Trim the mushrooms, then tear them into bite size pieces. Combine the sugar, soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil in a bowl. Add the mushrooms and onions and toss to combine. Tear a large piece of foil, then pour the mushroom onion mixture in the middle of the foil. Fold the foil into a packet, closing the edges to seal. Place the packet on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes. Carefully open the foil packet and allow the mushrooms to cool. Place about 1 cup of arugula on each of 4 plates. Top with one quarter of the mushrooms. Enjoy!

Serves 4

Stealthy Cooking Tip: If you use a delicate green, like spinach, the warm mushrooms with soften the greens. A heartier green, like kale or chard, will stay crisper. Either way, this combination is one that delights me. This is also another idea I got from trying recipes from Purple Carrot in new and different ways from the recipes they suggest. I usually love their combinations, so much that I'm always looking for ways to incorporate the best into my everyday meal rotation.

Greek Kale and Quinoa Salad

This salad combines some of my favorite flavors! First, there's Greek salad, made with one of my all time favorite greens, dinosaur kale! Then, there's a hearty quinoa base that makes this great material for a bowl. In my opinion, this combo just can't go wrong. 

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup quinoa

1 cup kale, ribs removed and chopped 

1/2 English cucumber, peeled and sliced

1/4 cup feta cheese, dairy or non-dairy

10 pitted kalamata olives

10 grape tomatoes

Ginger lemon salad dressing

2 Tbs Honey Citron Ginger Tea

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

2 Tbs lemon juice

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions: 

Bring 1 cup of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add the quinoa. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes, until the quinoa grains begin to burst. Drain any remaining water and let cool. 

Massage the kale for about 1 minute, until it begins to turn glossy. Mix the quinoa, kale and remaining ingredients along with 1 Tbs of the ginger lemon salad dressing. Save the remaining dressing for another salad. Serve and enjoy.

Serves 2

Stealthy Cooking Tip: I like using this ginger lemon tea from Costco for many more things than tea. It makes a great base for salad dressings, just like this one.