Warm Spinach and Shiitake Mushroom Salad
Day 4 of Christmas Salads is a Cozy One!
Warm salads. Are they a thing? I’m voting yes, because, first it’s been in the 20s every morning in New York City the past week and, secondly, warming vegetables have such a place in the daily detoxifying lifestyle, especially during the winter. When we cook vegetables, they become more mellow on the body (versus raw veggies which are hyper cleansing and awakening) and help our bodies heal gently and slowly. This intuitively feels better in the colder months. It’s why a lot of Eastern philosophies (Ayurveda, TCM, etc) promote warm foods because of their gently healing properties. For me, this doesn’t mean I’m doing away with raw veg altogether. On the contrary, I personally need raw live greens to help me thrive but occasionally a cozy salad like this warms me to the bones and is exactly what I craved this flavor profile is slightly Japanese/Korean with earthy toasted sesame oil as the prominent ingredient. The salad itself is only made with two vegetables, which makes it one of the simplest of this series and the dressing comes together right in the pan. I hope you enjoy!
Ingredients:
6 cups of spinach (I prefer to get loose spinach at the farmers market or health food store, the boxed has been so sanitized beyond recognition but if boxed is all you have, work with what you got!)
2 cups of shiitake caps (you can sub in with any mushrooms)
3 tbsp avocado oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp coconut sugar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Sea salt
Black pepper
Optional: chili crisp
Heat a large pan, add oil and garlic. Once fragrant but not browned, add mushrooms and lower heat to medium flame. Drizzle tamari, coconut sugar and rice vinegar and quickly toss in sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Let sit on pan without stirring to brown. Flip and let other side of mushroom cap brown. Once browned on both sides transfer mushrooms to plate. Add spinach to hot pan and cook until wilted, a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Add mushrooms back to pan with spinach, drizzle sesame oil, and toss with spinach.
Transfer to serving plate. Top with chili crisp and enjoy!