- maitake (also known as “hen of the woods”)
On my last visit to the farmer’s market, I was on the hunt for 2 things. 1) wild mushrooms, and 2) winter vegetables. As I approached the mushroom stand, I noticed an assortment of wild mushrooms ranging from crimini to chanterelles. The “maitake” mushroom instantly caught my fancy with their sea creature-like appearance and spongy texture. I envisioned them being sauteed in butter and garlic. Without hesitation, I purchased a half pound. As I watched the vendor put a nice small heap into a brown paper bag, I wiggled with excitement at the thought of making a delicious winter salad. I couldn’t find any kale or winter greens at any of the stands, so I left the farmer’s market and headed straight to a local natural foods store, where I knew I would find some organic greens. I picked up a nice looking medium sized delicata squash, a minneola tangelo orange, and a small bundle of Lacinato kale–so pretty with it’s blue green leaves. My idea was to cook each item individually in order to bring out the best flavor that is distinctive to the nature of that item, and to bring everything together at the end…resulting in a winter salad that is tasty, healthy and full of natural vitamins.
- delicata squash
This meant roasting the delicata squash. I chopped them up in half inch rings, scooped out the pulp and set aside.
- delicata rings
The delicata was then tossed in olive oil, finely minced garlic and a little sea salt and cracked pepper. Roast in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes, give or take. It would be a great idea to start working on the delicata seeds to ensure good use of time. Place the delicata pulp in a colander and run cold water over it, separating the seeds from the pulp.
toasted delicata seeds with coarse sea salt
Pat dry the seeds and coat with olive oil and coarse sea salt. Toast these in the oven at low heat. Next, rinse out the lacinato kale leaves and carefully remove the stems. Pat dry the leaves and toss lightly with a good quality olive oil. I used extra virgin arbequina olive oil. Eventually the delicata rings will be ready along with their seeds. Simply take out of oven and allow to sit at room temperature and begin working on the minneola tangelo vinaigrette. These oranges have an interesting shape, round with a knob at the end. Upon internet research, I learned that minneola tangelos are a cross between a Duncan grapefruit and a Dancy tangerine. This minneola tangelo vinaigrette will certainly add bright, citrusy zest to my winter salad.
- minneola tangelo vinaigrette
Minneola Tangelo Vinaigrette:
-squeeze the juice of one orange into a food processor
-add half a clove of garlic
-add a few drops of white wine vinegar
-add a few drops of extra virgin olive oil
-grind the mixture until you achieve a yellowish color, adding sea salt and pepper to taste.
-add more olive oil, if necessary.
- thinly sliced watermelon radishes
Next up are the artfully colored watermelon radishes, which I thinly sliced and soaked in apple cider vinegar for a few minutes to add a little tang to the salad. After each ingredient has been prepared individually to reach it’s full potential, place each one in a large bowl and toss gently with the orange vinaigrette. Winter salad is complete. Brooklyn, EAT your heart out!
Winter Salad: Maitake, Lacinato kale, delicata squash, watermelon radish and minneola tangelo vinaigrette.
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