Roasted Pepper and Shiitake Salad
8 Comments
Those bell peppers aren't the only thing burning up around here. Apparently, we missed spring in New England. It's going up into the 90s today--and it's only late May!
I fear this heat wave might mean a bad summer ahead. Who knows? The weather here is nuts: rain, snow, sleet, beating sun, heat, humidity. And that's on a Monday. Is it any wonder this place bred Puritans and other scolds?
Ah, well. In celebration of bad weather (!), I thought I'd offer some more of those luscious, make-ahead salads. We keep them in the fridge all week so we can have heaping spoonfuls of this and that for lunch every day.
The point is this: a wide variety in what you eat means you can eat less and be satisfied more quickly. Eating bored--whether you're bored or you're bored with your food--can be a recipe for weight-management disaster, as research shows. (It's pretty well documented in our new book, REAL FOOD HAS CURVES.)
So the salad.
First, char those bell peppers. You'll need three or four of them. You can do as Bruce does and set them right on the grate over a high gas flame. Or you can do this task on a grill, directly over the heat. Or you can set them on a lipped baking sheet about 6 inches from a preheated broiler. In any event, turn them on all sides until they're nice and black--not incinerated, mind you; just blackened in big patches.
Once they're that way, pick them up with tongs (they're hot!) and put them in a mixing bowl--then cover it tightly with plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes. Or failing the bowl, put them in a zip-closed bag, seal it shut, and set them aside.
As they soften, get the mushrooms ready. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a big skillet, then add 8 ounces thinly sliced shiitake caps (the stems are just too woody for this salad), 2 or 3 chopped garlic cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Stir this over the heat just until the mushroom slices wilt a bit and soften, no more than 2 or 3 minutes. Set the skillet aside off the heat.
After the requisite 20 minutes, take the peppers out of their sealed environment and peel off the black stuff--plus any bits of skin that come free. You don't have to be perfect--just do the best you can. And don't peel them under running water. You'll wash off too much flavor.
Stem, core, and seed them; then chop the peppers into chunks or strips, about the same size as those shiitake strips. Put the peppers in a big bowl and scrape the contents of the skillet into the bowl as well.
Add 5 or 6 chopped basil leaves, 2 or 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and salt to taste, maybe about 1/2 teaspoon. Stir it up and it's ready--or can be covered and put in the fridge for up to 4 days, lunch at the ready. (Or a nice side dish for anything off the grill.)
Reader Comments (8)
This sounds amazing and so healthy and easy! I have a confession, though: I hate mushrooms. Maybe I will replace them with sliced onions or julienned carrots. Thanks for the inspiration though! I love that you make it ahead of time and let all the flavors come together.
i love this! these peppers are my favourite. never mixed them with mushroom, but i suspect it's a terrific combo. i'm surprised there's not a drop of olive oil to balance the vinegar. i'm not sure i would appreciate such a bold bite. my go-to salad is just the peppers and a crushed garlic clove in a bit of olive oil, balsamic, a pinch of sugar or honey, and a sprinkling of oregano. i don't have any mushrooms on hand, or i'd be making this right. now.
i am making baba ganoush this afternoon! thanks for the recipe!
Liza: Sure, make it with softened onion--or how about some grilled fennel?
Dana: There is oil. It's used to saute the mushrooms. But you could add more. Shoot, this is just supposed to be inspiration, rather than a real recipe. It's endlessly adaptable.
M.
Delicious, Mark! I usually char mine a bit more - I like them quite soft and wilted. I keep looking at it and thinking how lovely your salad might be in a toasted panini! :)
I am so glad I found you. I am going to be making this for next weeks school lunches. I have 2 athlete's who would rather junk food load but they are will to try ANYTHING from your web site because it "looks" like food. Thank you so much for all the inspiration.
Tina: I'm so glad you're here! Drop in and stay a while. We'll all be intrigued by what you have to say. And tell those athletes of yours that they only eat junk food now because they're young and their bodies are forgiving. Pro athletes insist on real food without exception.
M.
This sounds wonderful. I have difficulty finding some ingredients because I live in a small town in the Midwest. I may have to sustitute baby portabellas for the shitake mushrooms. I am going to grill some salmon filets and some grilled romaine hearts to go along with this. Yum!
Peggy: Listen, we, too, live in a very small town--but ours is in New England, not the Midwest. (Did you know I went to grad school in Madison, Wisconsin? Not sure where you are, but it's one of my favorite places.)
Bruce says to feel free to substitute away--but remember that those baby portobellos will give off way more liquid as they're cooked. Saute them quickly so they don't start to break down too much, just soften slightly. Basically, he says to just warm them up and sear the edges; otherwise, you'll water down the salad as they continue to leach moisture in the bowl.
Sounds like a fantastic dinner for Memorial Day!
M.