EEE Cooks: Warm Mushroom and Blue Cheese Salad (Recipe)

We are inspired by Epicurious’ “Recipe of the Day” to make a warm mushroom and blue cheese salad. We vary the recipe quite a bit to accommodate our staples and preferences—we omit the pancetta, use less oil, and replace the salad mix with spinach. Even with all of the ingredient changes, the result is a nice vegetarian side dish that is quick to prepare.

We start by heating a large sauté pan over medium heat. The oil is added and when hot, the mushrooms follow. We stir occasionally with a wooden spoon and cook until the mushrooms start to release their liquid. We put the unpeeled clove of garlic in the garlic press and add it directly to the pan—scraping the minced pieces clinging to the press into the pan. We add salt and pepper and continue to cook for a couple of minutes.

When the liquid from the mushrooms is mostly reduced, we add the vinegar and stand back (to avoid the vinegar fumes)! We stir well and cook for another minute. Then, we remove the pan from the heat.

The spinach is placed in a shallow dinner bowl. We could have tossed this with some oil and vinegar as well, but we do not bother since the topping will be so flavorful. The hot mushrooms are poured on top and we crumble on the blue cheese. We toss the salad gently at the table and serve with additional salt and pepper.

Warm Mushroom and Blue Cheese Salad

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Ingredients