Mixed Greens with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar April 21, 2008

When making a salad, use fresh, organic mixed greens. Salad greens should be dry before you use them in a salad, otherwise they will water down your dressing. When you wash your greens, use a salad spinner or shake them out and roll them in a clean kitchen towel to dry them.

I detest store-bought croutons and even the thought of a dry hard crouton that I make myself does nothing for me. I came up with a different method of making croutons, broiling instead of baking. I don’t turn them so one side is crunchy, the other soft. Even Mikey likes them.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups organic mixed greens (arugula, chicory, dandelion greens, escarole, frisee, looseleaf lettuce, mache, radicchio, romaine, baby spinach, watercress)
• 1/2 cup grape tomato halves
• 4 scallions (green onions), chopped diagonally
• 1/2 cup fat-free Feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons dried cherries
• 6 Cremini mushrooms or 1 large Portobello mushroom (de-gilled), cubed
• 2 slices whole grain bread, cubed (use a demi-baguette, if possible, for maximum crust)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

1. Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth. Remove the stems. If using a Portobello mushroom, remove the brown gills with a spoon before cubing.
2. Place the cubed bread and the cubed mushrooms in a broiler pan. Spray the cubed bread and mushrooms with olive oil or a butter flavored cooking spray. Try Spectrum Organics. Please under the broiler for about 2 minutes. Watch your pan closely since a nice toasty brown can turn to black in a matter of moments.
3. Toss together the rest of the ingredients with the exception of the oil and vinegar.
4. When the bread cubes are a toasty brown, remove the pan from the broiler and sprinkle both bread and mushrooms on your salad. The mushrooms will have wilted slightly and lost some of their liquid. Take care not to add the mushroom liquid to your salad.
5. Add the balsamic vinegar and toss.
6. Add the extra virgin olive oil and toss.
7. Season with salt and freshly cracked pepper and serve.