Arugula Salad in Portobello Mushroom Bowls

Salad week continues with a vegetarian salad today.

It was almost a fast food day and not a salad day at all. My girl broke her arm. There is no exciting story behind it. She broke it in the most benign way-Irish dancing. Who knew Irish dancing was a contact sport? One leap in the air followed by a bad foot plant and now she's sporting a cast the color of a traffic cone. Needless to say what started as a simple day became a little more complicated than planned.


My girl and her best buddy Duffy

I was (surprisingly) able to pull it all together and make my salad as planned.

When I was shopping at the supermarket this week I was drawn to some beautiful extra large Portobello mushroom caps. The caps looked like large shallow bowls waiting to be filled. I think the salad is best when the caps are warm-I really like the contrast of cool and hot in a salad. But if you prefer, you may grill the caps ahead of time and serve them cooled.

I wanted today's salad selection to be a vegetarian one. But if you prefer to have meat of some kind in your salad, I think smoked ham, bacon or prosciutto would be an excellent addition.

Take care when grilling the caps as once they are tender the edges can break easily, so turn over and remove with care.


Arugula, Avocado and Tomato Salad in Grilled Portobello Bowls

4 large Portobello mushrooms caps
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cups mixed greens with arugula
1 avocado, seeded, peeled and diced
1 large tomato diced (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

Walnut Pesto Dressing:
1/4 cup basil leaves, packed
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat a grill to medium high heat.

Gently scrape the gills from the underside of each Portobello mushroom and trim down the stem as far as possible.

Lightly brush each cap with the oil and place directly on the grill rack. Grill for 3 minutes then carefully flip with a spatula and grill for an additional 3 minutes. Caps should be lightly browned and just tender.

Arrange 1 cup of the greens in the underside of each mushroom cap. Top each with the avocado, tomato and diced onion. Sprinkle each with Parmesan cheese and walnuts, evenly dividing. Drizzle each salad with Walnut Pesto Dressing.

To make the Walnut Pesto Dressing: combine the basil, walnuts, lemon juice, water, oil salt and pepper in a blender container; blend until smooth.

Yield: 4 salads