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A large wooden serving bowl filled with mushroom and kale winter salad, topped with figs and goat cheese

Mushroom And Kale Winter Salad

This hearty and vibrant salad recipe combines warm barley and wild mushrooms with crisp root vegetables and tangy goat cheese crumbles for the perfect winter blues salad!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
0 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Dinner, lunch
Cuisine American, healthy
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 8-10 oz baby kale
  • 1 cup uncooked barley
  • 1 rainbow carrot, sliced into thin medallions
  • 1/4 large red onion, chopped
  • 1/4 yellow or red redish, grated
  • 4 oz pioppino mushrooms, cleaned with the ends cut off
  • 5-6 dried figs, cut in half
  • 4 oz baby bella mushrooms, cleaned with the ends cut off, and sliced according to preference
  • 5 oz red and yellow cherry or small tomatoes, some cut in half, some whole
  • 1 hand full of pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • hand full of microgreens (I used purple daikon radish microgreens)
  • 1 4 oz block of goat cheese, crumbled according to preference
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, coconut oil, or sunflower oil
  • salad dressing of choice

Instructions
 

  • Make the barley according to the package instructions. My barley instructions said 1 cup of barley to 3 cups of water, and it took 1 hour of simmering before it was done cooking.
  • While the barley is simmering, begin preparing the other ingredients. Brush any dirt off of the mushrooms, and chop off their ends. Thinly chop the carrot, grate the radish, chop the red onion and cut the dried figs in half.
  • About 15 minutes before the barley is done cooking, heat olive, coconut or sunflower oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in your mushrooms and sauté until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. To achieve this, try not to stir them too much. Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and continue to sauté for about 2 more minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
  • When the barley is done, toss it with the kale. The heat from the barley will warm the kale without sacrificing its integrity. Add the mushrooms and tomatoes to the mix.
  • Top with sliced carrot, shredded radish, red onion, figs, pumpkin seeds, microgreens and goat cheese. Drizzle with your favorite dressing and enjoy!

Notes

OPTIONAL SUBSTITUTIONS
  • SALAD: We use baby kale because it is robust yet less harsh and bitter than its adult counterpart. Other salads that would go great in this would be: arugula, spinach or spring mix.
  • NUTS & SEEDS: I quite honestly used pepitas, or pumpkin seeds, because that is what I had in my cupboard. They also remind me of fall/winter, so I felt like they were perfect. But nothing is stopping you from using walnuts, sunflower seeds, pin nuts or pistachios!
  • TOPPINGS: Use what you have! Carrots and tomatoes are usually easy to find, but I understand that yellow radish, dried figs and purple micro greens might be a little more difficult to get your hands on. I encourage you to go to your local grocery store and purchase something exotic and different!
  • MUSHROOMS: I HIGHLY recommend finding some good wild mushrooms for this recipe. They really taste AMAZING when pan seared! I used pioppino and baby bella, but shiitake, brown beech or oyster mushrooms would all work great.
 
Keyword mushroom and kale salad, winter salad recipe
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