Wintry Mix

Now that awards season is officially over and I skipped the obvious occasional party post (I won my Oscar pool at work, yo! not that we bet any actual money...) we are that much closer to Sunday night episodes of True Blood and further away from favorite meteorological catch phrases such as: Storm of the Century, Snowmageddon 2010, and the commuter arch nemesis, the Wintry Mix. In honor of the Wintry Mix, I made a salad of the typical mixed greens of winter. Now that I think about it, it's a also a really good name for a cocktail...

Aside from the greenery, I thought that some roasted mushrooms (and bacon if I had it!) would be the perfect addition. The cool thing about roasting mushrooms rather than cooking them in a skillet on top of the stove top is that you don't have to baby sit them, worry about overcrowding, or have a bunch of excess liquid leeching into your pan o' 'shrooms, creating a jacuzzi style cooking sitch. Check out the before and after:


Before


After

In a perfect world, one would roast identical mushrooms together for a specific amount of time: one pan of shitake, one pan of cremini, etc. But since I have no time for specificity, I roasted everything together and simply compensated for the larger, longer cooking mushrooms by placing them on the outside edges of the pan and by placing the smaller and more delicate in the center of the pan. It totally works.

Bacon would have been the perfect foil for this salad, but because I ate an entire package in one sitting, I just pretended that it was there, and it was magnificent. In my mind. You should try it though! (The dried cherries you might see in the photo didn't really work as a replacement.) Several cheeses would work in this salad, so I am giving you the option to choose your fave. Isn't that nice of me??



Wintry Mix(ed) Green Salad With Roasted Mushrooms

Roasted Mushrooms:
1 1/2 pounds wild mushrooms (such as shitake, oyster, cremini, chanterelle)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 - 6 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium Belgian endive, chopped
1 medium head radicchio, chopped
2 ounces baby arugula
1/4 pound goat cheese, crumbled (or Gorgonzola or Parmesan)
1/4 cup pecans, toasted
Cooked bacon, crumbled, as desired

1. Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Remove stems from the mushrooms. Wipe the caps clean. Add the mushrooms to a baking sheet and toss with the oil and thyme and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place particularly large mushrooms to the outside edge of the baking sheet. Roast for 7 minutes, rotate the pan and roast for about 8 minutes more. Remove from the oven to cool.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together the oil, vinegar, and mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Add the endive, radicchio, and arugula to the dressing and toss to coat. Plate the salad and sprinkle the cheese, nuts, and bacon over the top. Serve with freshly ground black pepper. Serves about 2.