Grilled Mushroom Salad, Watercress and Spanish Onion with crunchy bits.

This kind of meaty delicious salad works for vegans, vegetarians, meat-eaters, and everyone in between. Grilled Mushroom Salad, Watercress, and Spanish onion with crunchy bits makes a great dinner or as part of a bigger feast when you need a delicious crowd pleaser.

Grilled Mushrooms make the perfect Salad for everyone

Mushrooms are juicy and delicious and will absorb spices and dressings creating the perfect salad base. Mushrooms are both filling and easy to cook. They have often been called – meat for vegetarians after all! You need to add a bit more oil to them when cooking, especially on the BBQ to sizzle them and bring out those juices.

• Peel flat mushrooms.This helps the marinade seep in.
• Ensure you paint the marinate onto both sides.
• Season well and add more oil when grilling.
• Rest after grilling.

Watercress- the forgotten star of the show

To balance out this salad I have added crunchy watercress. If you have not added watercress to a salad before, you will be delighted. It has a great crunch and lightly peppery taste and lasts well if you pick all the stems from the bunch and immerse them in water. It will keep well like this in a covered container in the fridge for a couple of days. Our supermarkets try to control what we buy and just supply us with things that they feel will last longer (for them) so they often limit our access to watercress and many other kinds of vegetables. Find it at IGA’s or Green Grocer stores and Farmer’s markets. Watercress is worth hunting down, let’s demand they stock it!! If you had to replace it then yes, rocket would do

Now, let’s talk about the other flavours that make this exceptional. Sometimes we are urged to cook or make things just because we are having family and friends over to eat. What about just making something amazing for YOU?

There are three other textural and tingly taste sensations in this salad.

1. Cucumbers. Little Lebanese Cucumbers are crunchy and carry the other flavours like a drum in a marching band. They only need to be simply sliced and tossed in
2. . A mixture of seasoned seeds adds such a pleasing texture you will want to include them in everything you eat- and you can! See the recipe below.

• They are tossed together with a couple of everyday spices, and salt and roasted for a brief time.
• Once cooled they can be added to anything and everything.
• Store the leftovers in an airtight container.
• If they lose some crunch give them a brief freshen-up in a low oven for 2-5 minutes

3. Pickled Spanish Onion. These are definately the ant’s pants of onions. They are slightly sweet, and slightly vinegary and bring the whole salad together. I mean this, you will love them, plus a little of the leftover liquid is added to the dressing and it is perfection.

• Cut the Spanish or Red onion
• Sprinkle with a little salt and leave
• Wash off the water that seeps out and the salt and drain
• Make the pickling liquid by bringing sugar and vinegar to a boil, and add the onions
• Put into a container and use with any salad or grilled meat, fish or vegetable

1. Roasted seed mix ( see recipe)
2. Preparing the dressing in a jar. This makes it easy to prepare and to keep if there is some left
3. All the ingredients are ready for cooking and assembling
4. Adding the lovely juices to the plate before adding the salad

Why not add this salad to your Christmas list

Christmas recipe collection is here

Check out the reel on Instagram Here