Mushroom Salad with Eggplant and Fragrant Vegetables

Name: Mushroom Salad with Eggplant, Peppers and Tomatoes (Porcini)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Wild mushrooms (boiled, porcini are best) 250 g; Eggplants 1; Salad onion (white or red) 1 (or half of a large one); Garlic 1 small clove; Bell peppers 2 large; Tomatoes 2; Black olives, pickled gherkins 6-8; Mixed herbs (parsley, dill, basil) 1-2 tbsp (finely chopped) (4–8 g); Olive oil 3-4 tbsp (for frying the eggplants and for the dressing); Table vinegar 2-3 drops; Grape or balsamic vinegar a few drops (for the sauce, optional); Salt, black pepper to taste; Dried oregano a pinch

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60 mins

If you have fresh wild mushrooms or homemade preserved ones, a mushroom salad with vegetables is a great idea. It is an excellent appetizer for a festive lunch.

Salads appeared in ancient times and quickly became a habit. In Ancient Rome they made dishes similar to salads, using whatever vegetables were available, olive oil, onion, and various herbs. The name most likely comes from one feature of the dish: a salad is always salted right before serving, together with the dressing or sauce, unless it is a fruit salad, of course. In Latin, salata means “salted.”

A mix of different foods: meat, fish, fresh or prepared vegetables, mushrooms, aromatic green herbs, legumes, and so on. Salad dressings, which make the dish juicy and give it a touch of flavor, range from the simplest, such as vinegar, sour cream, or plain vegetable oil, to extremely complex sauces with many ingredients.

Mushroom salad is a simple appetizer that comes together quickly, and all the ingredients can even be mixed right at the table. Boiled wild mushrooms, prepared vegetables, and herbs are arranged on a large platter and drizzled with a flavorful dressing.

More with bell peppers and mushrooms

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Mushroom-Stuffed Peppers

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Kavarma with Pork and Porcini Mushrooms

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Stuffed Mushrooms with Dorblu Cheese and Bell Pepper

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Glass Noodles with Vegetables

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Ingredients

2 servings

For the salad
Wild mushrooms (boiled, porcini are best) 250 g
Eggplants 1
Salad onion (white or red) 1 (or half of a large one)
Garlic 1 small clove
Bell peppers 2 large
Tomatoes 2
Black olives, pickled gherkins 6-8
Mixed herbs (parsley, dill, basil) 1-2 tbsp (finely chopped) (4–8 g)
For the dressing
Olive oil 3-4 tbsp (for frying the eggplants and for the dressing)
Table vinegar 2-3 drops
Grape or balsamic vinegar a few drops (for the sauce, optional)
Salt, black pepper to taste
Dried oregano a pinch

Step-by-step recipe

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Mushrooms and eggplants

The salad is best made with fresh porcini picked the day before. As Father Lacina used to say, the more mushrooms in a mushroom salad, the better.
Boil the mushrooms. Clean the wild mushrooms of needles, leaves, and soil, and boil until done the way you usually do (porcini usually take 20-30 mins after the water comes to a boil, in salted water). Let them cool.
Slice the eggplant. Wash it and cut off the ends. If you like, peel it, leaving thin strips of skin. Slice crosswise into rounds no more than 10 mm thick.
Fry the eggplants until soft. Eggplants soak up vegetable oil like a sponge when frying, so first brush the rounds with olive oil on all sides and only then fry them in a small amount of oil over medium heat. Do not overfry: once they have a nice golden crust, keep them on low heat, turning from time to time, until the eggplants are completely soft.

Mushrooms with onion and roasted pepper

Dress the mushrooms with onion and garlic. Cut the boiled mushrooms into cubes, twice as large as the vegetables for a vinaigrette salad. Cut the sweet salad onion into very thin strips (if the onion is large, half is enough). Peel the garlic and chop it very finely with a knife. Mix the mushrooms, onion, and garlic, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add 2-3 drops (not spoonfuls!) of table vinegar and stir.
On the same principle we make a favorite homemade mushroom appetizer for the festive table: pickled porcini with onion.
Roast the bell peppers. Remove the seeds and stems from two large peppers and roast them in the oven (at 200°C for about 20 mins, until the skin starts to darken and loosen) or in a microwave. Once cooled, peel off the outer skin, which feels like plastic film.
Cut the vegetables for arranging. Cut each roasted pepper in half lengthwise and slice diagonally into narrow strips. Cut the eggplant rounds in half. Slice the tomatoes thinly.

Serving

You will need a large plate, or better yet a ceramic platter.
Arrange the mushrooms and vegetables in sectors. Alternating the ingredients in any order, lay out some of the tomatoes, some of the eggplant, some of the peppers and mushrooms. Then repeat the sectors until the ingredients cover the whole plate.
Add the olives, gherkins, and herbs. Spread the whole olives and pickled gherkins evenly over the salad. In the very center, where all the sectors of mushrooms and vegetables meet, put 1-2 tbsp of finely chopped mixed herbs (4–8 g). Salt lightly and sprinkle with a pinch of dried oregano.
Dress the salad. You can serve plain olive oil separately, or make a sauce based on olive oil by mixing it with a few drops of grape or balsamic vinegar.
Toss the salad right on the platter, at the table, dressing it with the oil or sauce.
Serve the mushroom salad cold or, if you like, chilled: put it in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.