The best mixed salad with sautéed mushrooms

This mixed salad with sautéed mushrooms recipe is the best thing to ever enter your dinner table. Goodbye, boring lettuce and tomato, hello juicy bowl of deliciousness.

Let‘s be honest, we all need a good salad recipe in our back pocket. A staple side to any meal, a beautiful side salad can make or break your meal. This is why, after experimenting with so many recipes, I keep coming back to the best mixed salad with sautéed mushrooms.

Have you ever been out for a lovely meal, maybe with friends or loved ones, only to be let down by the most staple of dishes on the menu? You have? Me too. To this day it baffles me how so many restaurants cannot seem to create a nice, delicious bowl of salad. It should be so easy. A little lettuce, a few crisp veggies, a lovely dressing. Sadly, reality often looks like a bowl of wilted, sorry looking greens with a few kitchen scraps and questionable smell.

But fear not, once you have tried my favourite mixed salad with sautéed mushrooms recipe you will never ever need to have a bad salad again. My favourite salad recipe is simple, colourful and not precious when it comes to food swaps. A base of fresh, crisp salad leaves is topped with beautiful capsicum, juicy baby tomatoes and refreshing cucumber. Creamy avocado intermingles and is topped with juicy sautéed mushrooms. You should start salivating right about now. To top it all off, we create a sweet and tangy vinegrette, creating a juicy bowl, full of flavours. It‘s the perfect side to go with any meal, whether it‘s a Sunday dinner of roasted carrots and potatoes, a delicious veggie pasta or a simple slice of freshly baked sourdough bread. If you need any last minute dish to round up your dinner experience, this salad would be it. 

How to prepare the best mixed salad with sautéed mushrooms

Great salads start with great ingredients and you want to make sure to opt for seasonal, sun-ripened produce here. For a simple mixed salad I like to use baby cos lettuce. The beautiful crunchy greens create a beautiful base for your salad toppings. 

Gently tear your leaves from the stem and give them a gentle wash. Laying your leaves out on a towel, allow them to dry for a moment. You may want to carefully pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel. 

While your lettuce takes a moment to dry off, focus your attention on prepping the remaining ingredients. Slice and dice your tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and mushrooms. I often aim for a variety of shapes, to make the salad look more interesting. You could even go as far as to mash the avocado. Personally, I prefer delicious chunks. Lastly, finely chop the onion. 

In your most beautiful salad bowl, arrange the salad leaves in a beautiful circular display. Layer the cucumber, tomatoes and avocado pieces on top. Tuck a few pieces under the lettuce leaves to evenly distribute your toppings. 

In a small frying pan, heat a little oil. Once hot, add the onions and mushrooms to sautée. While I usuallyé my onions first by themself, this recipe seems to work perfectly fine with both onions and mushrooms entering the pan together. Sautée until the vegetables start to brown, then take your pan off the stove.

While your mushroom mix takes a moment to cool, let‘s prepare the salad dressing. Combine oil, vinegar, maple syrup, salt and pepper in a small bowl and mix everything until well combined. 

Spread your mushroom mixture over the salad and top it all off with the fresh dressing. Serve and enjoy.

Other topping suggestions

While this salad is absolutely delicious as is, sometimes you‘re just in the mood to change things up a bit. Depending on the season and your location, produce may not be the freshest throughout the year, causing your salad to taste a bit bland. On days like those, don‘t shy away from swapping a few items for fresher, seasonal ingredients full of flavour. 

Mix up your greens. Baby cos is a great choice for this crunchy salad, but it can taste just as good with butter lettuce or a mix of your favourite greens. Keep an eye on fresh, seasonal ingredients and choose whatever looks freshest. 

Swap out your veggies. While most of us will have cucumbers and tomatoes as staples in their fridge, these summer vegetables often don‘t taste too great in the colder months. This is when I like to make a few adjustments and opt for crunchy capsicum, zucchini or even a little sweet corn instead.

Add some crunch. If you like a bit of crunch to your salad, try to add a handful of nuts or seeds to the mix. Sunflower seeds, walnuts or pepitas are my personal favourites, but you might also enjoy cashews or pecans. 

Add an egg. I can‘t remember how I came up with this, but one day I added an egg to my frying pan while sautéing my mushrooms. The end result was a juicy, amazingly delicious salad that was not only delicious, but also so filling and satisfying. 

This salad is a wonderful addition to any meal. If you plan on serving my mixed salad with sautéed mushrooms with savoury dishes, here are a few of my favourite everyday dishes to pair it with:

• Vegetable pasta
• Oven roasted potatoes
• Homemade mushroom sushi
• Honey glazed carrots

I often have this salad as a main dish with some bread. Usually, with my same day sourdough loaf or my whole wheat rye sourdough. Once my savoury side is satisfied, I then round up my meal with something sweet, like my sourdough oatmeal cookies, sourdough discard carrot cake, a delicious earl grey honey cake, or a delicious mixed berry smoothie bowl with homemade granola in the hotter months. 

Ingredients

Crunchy lettuce, baby cos or similar

Maple apple cider vinaigrette

Lebanese cucumber, sliced

Baby tomatoes, cherry or similar, halved

Ripe avocado, diced

Instructions

In a large bowl, assemble the salad greens. Add the cucumber slices, tomatoes and avocado and drizzle with dressing. Toss until well combined and enjoy. 

Frequently asked questions

What is a good combo with mushrooms?

Mushrooms are a great ingredient to serve with most dishes. Used heavily in hearty dishes like stews, its meaty texture is also a favourite served with both meat and vegetarian main dishes alike. Most recipes will call for mushrooms to be sautéed with onions in either butter or olive oil. Herbs like parsley or chives and cream are often added to elevate the flavour combination. 

Should you sautée mushrooms in olive oil or butter?

Which fat you choose to sautée your mushrooms in often comes down to personal preference. Olive oil is a great all rounder that will create a delicious, consistently delicious mushroom dish. I often use butter on days where I am after a little more creaminess and a richer flavour palette. 

What enhances the flavour of mushrooms?

Different cooking methods focus on elevating various flavour components of mushrooms. Sautéing mushrooms brings out their nutty earthiness. Topped with red wine, the flavours become more rounded and scrumptious. Braising mushrooms starts with a very hot sautéing, to be then transferred to a hot liquid. This is where your mushrooms absorb all the other flavours to provide an almost always unique experience.

Should you season mushrooms when sautéing?

You should season mushrooms, yes, but not too soon. Sautéing is a process that will pull the natural moisture out of the mushroom, to slowly brown it. Salting your mushrooms too early will result in excess moisture, while turning your mushrooms quite tough and rubbery. Wait until your mushrooms have browned before you add salt and any other herbs and spices. When using fresh herbs, keep some aside to add as a garnish when serving. 

What is a mixed salad?

The easiest definition of a mixed salad is a bowl of different types of different coloured vegetables, topped with a dressing. Typically, these vegetables include a leafy green as a base.

How to make salad at home taste good?

First and foremost, make your salad exciting. Think beyond the single greens and explore using different vegetables. So many times, I have been served a homemade mixed salad on spinach, that didn’t taste of anything at all. What I’m saying is, don’t rely on the greens to carry your flavours. Add a mixture of flavourful and brightly coloured vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum, carrots or corn to the mix. You can experiment with additional toppings such as nuts, seeds, or even fruits. The key to any good homemade salad does however lie in the dressing. Using a high quality olive oil and vinegar will already make a huge difference. A little added flavour like honey or mustard take you the extra length.