Oyster Mushrooms!

A new leaf: Garden salad
Monday, October 22, 2007

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"Coloring the Seasons," by Allegra McEvedy (Kyle Cathie, 2006)

Vegetables feature prominently in this book about matching your produce to the season -- and to the color of each dish. Vibrant colors, says McEvedy, indicate nutrient content and freshness. The formula: color + common sense = flavor = good for you. The autumn section is anemic in regard to vegetarian offerings, but other seasons in the book help pull the weight. Here is one fall selection that escaped the addition of meat.

-- Evelyn Shih
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Camilla's big garden salad with oyster mushrooms

* 3 red peppers
* ½ cup seeds (hemp, sunflower, linseed, pumpkin, sesame etc)
* 1 red chili pepper, finely chopped
* 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
* 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
* 14 ounces oyster mushrooms, cleaned and torn into large pieces
* 2½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
* Juice of ½ lemon
* Salt and pepper, to taste
* 1¼ pounds mixed, crispy greens

Preheat the broiler. Cut the peppers in half and seed them. Lay them on a baking pan and broil on all sides until the skin is blackened. Put them in a bowl, tightly cover with plastic wrap and let cool. Peel off the skins and rip the peppers into finger-size lengths.

Toast the seeds in a large frying pan for a few minutes until they are fragrant. Tip them out onto a plate to cool and wipe out the pan.

In the same pan, saute the chili pepper over medium-low heat in a splash of olive oil for 1 minute, then throw in the garlic and cook for another minute until all the little pieces begin to get golden. Increase the heat, add the mushrooms, and saute until golden brown and soft.

Throw in the pepper pieces. Add the vinegar and let it reduce. Toss in the parsley and finish with the lemon, the rest of the olive oil, salt and pepper.

Wash the greens and drain well. Scatter the sauteed mixture over the greens and finish with the seeds.

Servings: 6.

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.