I have many favorite recipes from Traditions: A Taste of the Good Life, a 1983 cookbook by the Junior League of Little Rock, Arkansas--received as a wedding gift in 1986. I once saw this cookbook reviewed as a classic in perhaps a San Francisco newspaper. I agree. The carrot cake is fought over by two of the May birthday people in my family.
One favorite recipe in that book is for a fairly simple mushroom salad, in which a mustard vinaigrette ("garden dressing") is poured over a salad of mixed greens and sliced mushrooms. Really simple. But I discovered years ago that marinating the mushrooms in the dressing first made it really luscious. Today I made a variation on that recipe to make it more nutritarian-friendly:
Marinated Mushroom Dressing
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup good vinegar (I used a homemade tarragon-red-wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon olive oil (the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons minced red or green bell pepper (I used fresh red pimiento pepper, which is "meaty")
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons good dijon-type mustard
2 teaspoons dried herb (I used marjoram) or 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. cayenne
Combine all ingredients and let marinate in a shakeable container for at least an hour, then serve over mixed greens. Even better the next day.
Verdict: Very Good. I started with less honey and just felt I had to increase it to cut the harshness of the vinegar. Anyone have suggestions on how to do that more successfully? I had half of this on a very large salad of red leaf lettuce, spinach, and romaine, with some red cabbage shreds and yellow bell pepper, plus diced beets (that helped sweeten it up a bit) and a cup of rinsed canned navy beans.
Wow from 1/2 cup to 1 tablespoon of oil. Crazy right? I am always shocked by the amount of fat, sugar and salt in most recipes. Though to be fair I used to cook that way too. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAli