Avocado, Mushroom, Pepper and Tomato Salad

A while ago I was missing cucumber so I decided to add two different ingredients: avocado and mushrooms. This turned into what I now call an Avocado, Mushroom, Pepper and Tomato Salad. In fact I decided to only use pepper, tomato and the three base things I use when I start. They are balsamic vinegar, olive oil and sunflower seeds. There were also three new things I combined for this new salad. They were an avocado and two types of mushrooms. 

AMPT Salad plated w/ Pork Loin Chop

Ingredients 

Avocado, one small ( 72 g )

Balsamic Vinegar, One Table Spoon ( 16 g ) 

Olive Oil, One Table Spoon ( 13.3 g ) 

Oyster Mushrooms dried ( 7 g ) 

Red Sweet Pepper, medium size ( 100 g ) 

Shiitake Mushrooms dried ( 7 g ) 

Tomatoes, Two small ( 105 g ) 

 Putting it Together 

As mention above, I start all the salads I make with three main ingredients: Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil and Sunflower Seeds. Over time I've learnt that if I put in all of these ingredients in the same mixing vessel and stir all these together the sunflower seeds themselves get coated in the mixture. In doing so they have a propensity to stick as individual seeds to the other ingredients that are added. 

In this case I was adding two new ingredients in the form of avocado and mushrooms. When I was young and used to go foraging for mushrooms with my father. Some of those mushrooms he would pickle, while there were others that he used to dry.  I can't remember nor did I ever learn what the different types of mushrooms were called when I was young. However, when I ended up on ground in Ukraine for over ten years, that changed. 

On occasion when I was in my paternal village I would go out foraging for mushrooms with my cousin.  I have a pretty good memory of things I've seen and realized that the mushrooms that my father primarily dried were oyster mushrooms. So when I was at the local grocer's I decided to pick up a few packages of dried mushrooms, hence the reason I added mushrooms to my new salad that morning. 

Dried mushrooms quite literally taste like dirt, so one of the first things you do is to put your mushrooms in a bowl and re-hydrate them with some boiling water. The fungi will quickly soak up the water like a sponge and by the time you have cut up your avocado, pepper and tomato, they will be almost look like fresh mushrooms you just came back from the forest with. 

Cut both your avocado, pepper and tomato into pieces of about one centimetre cubed. Mix these into the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and sunflower seeds. What I like to do with salads is mix them in a container that one can put a lid on to really shake things up. I found that this works quite well when I'm putting avocado into a salad. When you mix it up, the avocado breaks down a little and the pieces mix in with the base fluids, plus the seeds and fluid of the tomatoes also do the same. 

Before doing this check and see if your mushrooms are well re-hydrated. Strain off the water and add your mushrooms to your container for the big shake. Once that's done, its ready to plate. 

That amount of ingredients included above will be enough to make two nice sized salads as a nice side dish for any meal. The mushrooms add a nice texture to the other ingredients. to any meal. 

 
Vasyl Pawlowsky 

Independent Consultant

Who Loves to Cook

 

Like Onions with a Bite? Try Ginger Spiced Pickled Red Onions

Ginger Spiced Pickled Red Onions

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Dead time: Up to 90 minutes, about the time to get to room temperature

Packaging time: 3-5 minutes

Death-line (My personal way of saying use within): Two (2) weeks refrigerated.

Ingredients

500 ml water

250 ml vinegar (regular or apple cider)

Two (2) medium sized red onions

Three (3) table spoons finely chopped or sliced ginger

One (1) or two (2) dried chili pepper(s). Two makes your onions very spicy.

One (1) teaspoon of kosher or sea salt

Holding Vessels

Two (2) 500ml preserving jars with their covers.

Putting it Together

Measure out our water and vinegar into a saucepan with your salt.

Clean and cut up your fresh ginger into three table spoons worth add to saucepan.

Chop up your dried chili peppers add to saucepan.

Bring this mixture to a boil.

Clean your onions and slice into small pieces either using a mandolin or a good sharp knife.

Place the onions into a bowl that can handle heat. You will be pouring boiling liquid into it.

You should be able to get your onions ready by the time the liquids in your saucepan boil.

Once the ingredients in the saucepan come to a boil, let it boil for about a minute. 

Then reduce to medium heat for ten minutes, then bring it up to a boil once more. 

Pour everything from your saucepan over the onions and cover. Let sit until its at room temperature.

When at room temerature, pour everything through a seive, preserving the liquid in another container.

Spoon what's remaining in the seive into your two 500ml jars in equal portions. 

Cover the ingredients in the jars with the fluid you saved in another container.

Cap the jars and refrigerate. Should be ready the next day.

I like to open them the first time in three to five days.

Uses

I envision a number of different uses for your Ginger Pepper Pickled Red Onions.

As a condiment to go with chicken or pork, or as a topping for hamburgers,  hotdogs, tacos, 

or in you favourite sandwich.