Salads are simple to make, but if you avoid treating it like filler food they can become a great meals. When every bite contains something special, it makes it very satisfying. This spring salad contains all kinds of greens, all from Henry’s Farm. At the Evanston farmer’s market, they sell a bag of mixed greens with all kinds of interesting things in it. Some of the leaves are a bit holey, but that’s organic farming. I also included lots of mizuna. Here’s a good page that’ll help identify some gourmet lettuces.
But it wasn’t just the greens that made this salad, it was the chanterelles and earthy morels and the richness of the port reduction. The nutty, chewy shrooms, the intense flavor of the reduction, the tiny strings of crunchy, spicy daikon, all combine with the slightly tangy greens for a complete range of flavors and textures.
- as many chanterelles as you can afford, this recipe was made with $6 worth, about a small berry container’s worth
- as many morels as you can afford, I had about five thumb sized ones
- a bag of mixed spring greens form Henry’s Farm, no substitutions allowed since I can’t tell you everything that’s in there. I’ll take some notes at next week’s market.
- a handfull of mizuna
- about 2 inches worth of a finely grated daikon
- 6-8 asparagus tips, small (I forgot to add them before the photo)
- 1 shallot
- 1 sprig of green garlic
- 1 sprig of chive
- 5-6 ozs. of port
- 2 T butter
Wash and dry the greens thoroughly. I don’t like to wash mushrooms, but with morels and chanterelles you need to soak them for a bit, then wipe them off with a paper towel or you really will achieve earthyness in your salad. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a saute pan and toss in the morels first for a minute, then the chanterelles. When they start taking on color, toss in about half the chopped shallot and minced green garlic (young garlic before it begins forms cloves, it looks like a baby leek). Pull out the mushrooms before they get too tanned and pour in the port. Throw in the other half of the shallot and some more chive and reduce until it bubbly, and add the other tablespoon of butter and reduce gently until it thickly coats a spoon.
To assemble, throw down the bed of greens, spread the shrooms on top and annoint the salad with the reduction shaking spoonfulls of the rich stuff over everything. The idea is not to soak everything, just to have drops of it everywhere. The flavor of the chanterelles is too special to cover over with anything. Spread the tiny slivers of daikon on top. Oh, dont’ forget the asparagus. I’ve been just lightly boiling mine in water, a splash of lime juice and a taste of rice wine.