Sautéed wild mushrooms, wild rice, roasted garlic, rocket

Sometimes, a salad can be the whole meal by itself. These hearty salads are full of grains or pasta, hearty vegetables like mushrooms, cauliflower, and broccoli, and usually have cheese. Some nights, a wonderful salad and a nice glass (or two) of wine are all you need.

This is one of those hearty salads. It pairs nutty rice, Bhutanese red rice in this case, with earthy sautéed mushrooms, sweet caramelized garlic, the slightly bitter arugula, and a tangy tarragon vinaigrette beautifully. The flavours explode on your palate in this chewy salad. We had a light dinner by itself with a deep red Syrah for a wonderful dinner. This is a specialized cookbook filled with absolutely fabulous salads. I was browsing through a bookshop when they existed and in the cookbook section when I found this gem and had to buy it immediately, something I rarely do. The salads are complex, with loads of ingredients that are paired uniquely and beautifully, as in this salad. This is a cookbook I had to have, and I highly recommend it to any salad lover.

For more delicious recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

For the salad

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 head garlic

1 cup Camargue rice, or any wild rice, red rice or brown rice

1 lb wild mushrooms, such as chanterelles, trumpet mushrooms, shiitake or button mushrooms, in a pinch

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons white wine or a generous squeeze of lime juice

A generous handful (or 2) of rocket/arugula

Salt and pepper to taste

For the tarragon dressing:

1 shallot, very finely minced Scant ½ cup sherry vinegar 200ml/7fl oz/scant 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoons chopped tarragon Pinch of salt

To make the tarragon dressing:

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl until combined. Leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes before serving.

To make the salad:

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2.

Cut the tops off the garlic bulbs. Drizzle a little olive oil on each bulb, wrap it in foil, and roast in the oven for 30–40 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then squeeze the garlic from its skin—it should come out quite easily, almost as a paste. Discard the skins.

Note: Since I am doing this with one bulb, I generally throw in a couple of extra bulbs. This roasted garlic is perfect for garlic bread, scrambled eggs, or any other dish. It lasts in the fridge, drenched in olive oil, for quite some time.

Rinse the rice well under cold running water and cook with a touch of salt, following the packet's instructions. Drain if needed and set aside.

Prepare the wild mushrooms by brushing off any soil and slicing them thinly.

The mushrooms need to be cooked quite quickly, so it’s important not to overcrowd the pan.

To avoid overcrowding, cook the mushrooms in 2 batches. First, heat the butter and a splash of olive oil in a wide frying pan over high heat. When hot, add the first batch of mushrooms and move them around so they are coated in oil and butter, then cover with a lid for 30 seconds. Remove the cooked mushrooms onto a plate, then repeat with the second batch of mushrooms. Return all the cooked mushrooms quickly to the pan. Add the garlic and white wine and season well with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for a further 30 seconds until all the wine has evaporated.

To serve the salad:

There are several ways to serve this salad. For simplicity, you can mix the mushroom mixture with the wild rice and toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary. Arrange the salad on serving plates and top with a handful of rocket. Drizzle the tarragon dressing on top, with extra on the side as needed.

Alternatively, toss the rice with the tarragon dressing, salt, and pepper, taste it, and adjust the seasonings as needed. Arrange the rice, mushrooms and arugula on the plate in a decorative pattern. Toss well before serving.