Shiitake, Shallots and Spinach Salad

This is a beautiful and simple salad! The flavors are very satisfying and so is the fact that it’s healthy and doesn’t have you stuck in the kitchen all day! Whooo!

It is made with one pan and one bowl to toss the salad. First you sauté the shallots, then slightly crisp the shiitake mushrooms, and toss them directly into a bowl of fresh spinach. The spinach will get a beautiful “wilty” thing going on, and you will love it!

I do have a couple of notes about the shiitake mushrooms. I highly recommend that you wipe them down with a damp cloth rather than pouring water over them to clean them. Wiping them down will ensure that they don’t get ‘water-logged,” and they will have the ability to get a little bit more crispy! Also, the stems are pretty rough, but are quite flavorful, so I remove them from the mushrooms and reserve them to make a quick broth for different dishes!

I use a low-sodium soy sauce in this recipe, but you could also use tamari or amino acids. Just make sure that you pay attention to the sodium content. I added 1/4 tsp of salt to my salad, but yours might not need it if it has a higher sodium content!

I think that this recipe comes together really well and has gorgeous complimentary flavors. Feel free to add in a little spice or even some crispy tofu or nuts for extra protein.

This is a great recipe to serve as a side dish, or you could make double and eat it as a main course! I often serve it as a side dish to my Miso Fettuccini. I love it and hope you do too!

Ingredients:

• 7 oz of shiitake mushrooms
• 2 cups of raw baby spinach- roughly chopped
• 1 shallot
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 3 Tbs. of olive oil
• 1 Tbs. low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 Tbs. rice vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. salt (or to taste)
• Fresh pepper to top it

Method:

• Roughly chop your two cups of fresh raw spinach and place into a large mixing bowl. Prepare your other ingredients by wiping the shiitakes clean with a damp cloth, removing their stems and thinly slicing them. Thinly slice your shallots, and finely chop the garlic.
• Next, heat up one Tbs. olive oil in a pan over medium/high heat. Thinly slice some shallots and throw them into the hot oil and sauté for a couple of minutes. The shallot slices should break apart into little rings and they get a little golden or even a little brown. When they look ready, throw them directly into the mixing bowl with the spinach and toss! You want to toss so that the olive oil and heat gets evenly distributed throughout the raw spinach.
• Return the pan to the medium/high heat and add in two more table spoons of olive oil. Add in the thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms. Cook for about 4-6 minutes until they start to get a little brown. Then add in the chopped garlic. Cook for about another minute or two. Before the garlic starts to get brown, add in the soy sauce and the paprika and incorporate well. The shiitakes should be pretty crispy, but still a little bit chewy.
• Throw in the shiitakes with all of the oil directly in with the spinach and toss! Again you want to evenly distribute the hot oil and the warm mushrooms so that the spinach will wilt evenly.
• Then add in the rice vinegar and the rest of the salt-if using. You may want to taste the salad before you add in salt depending on how salty your soy sauce is! I highly recommend tasting it before hand!
• Serve and top with some freshly ground black pepper! Enjoy! Yum!