It can be difficult to enjoy salads when it’s freezing outside, which is why I’m currently loving salads like this one.
A warm topping of sauteed mushrooms and red onions makes fresh spinach much more appealing at this time of the year, especially with a bit of crumbled goat cheese on top. The combination of warm and tender vegetables, raw greens, and creamy cheese is pretty irresistible!
Spinach isn’t typically my favorite salad green, but a sturdier lettuce is required for salads topped with hot vegetables– you want the greens to wilt a bit, but not become totally soggy. (Arugula would work, too.) If you’d prefer to avoid the cheese, it can easily be left off, but I’d recommend adding another salty topping in its place, such as bacon for meat-eaters, or a sprinkling of Cashew Parmesan for vegans. That extra tangy, salty flavor really helps tie this dish together!
Depending on what else you’re serving, this salad will serve one person as a meal, or 2-4 as a side dish. My toddler and I shared it for lunch the other day, and we easily polished off this whole plate. My son loves eating food off of a fork lately, so he’ll eat anything I put on there. (I’m taking advantage of this while I can!) I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
—
Warm Mushroom & Spinach Salad
Serves 1-2
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 cups of fresh spinach (about 3 ounces)
1-2 ounces chèvre (soft goat cheese)
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Melt the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the red onion until it starts to become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and salt and saute until tender, another 6 to 8 minutes. Add in the vinegar and saute another minute. Turn off the heat and stir in the olive oil.
Place the spinach in a large bowl and pour the hot vegetables over the top, tossing well until the leaves are glossy and slightly wilted. Plate the salad and top with crumbled goat cheese and freshly ground black pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste and serve warm!
Warm Mushroom & Spinach Salad
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/2 red onion , thinly sliced
- 8 ounces mushrooms , sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups of fresh spinach (about 3 ounces)
- 1-2 ounces chèvre (soft goat cheese)
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Melt the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the red onion until it starts to become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and salt and saute until tender, another 6 to 8 minutes. Add in the vinegar and saute another minute. Turn off the heat and stir in the olive oil.
- Place the spinach in a large bowl and pour the hot vegetables over the top, tossing well until the leaves are glossy and slightly wilted. Plate the salad and top with crumbled goat cheese and freshly ground black pepper. Serve warm!
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 416, Fat: 35g, Carbohydrates: 16g, Fiber: 5g, Protein: 15g
Note:
The best part of making salads from scratch is that you can tweak the flavor to your taste until it’s “just right.” Feel free to add an extra splash of vinegar if you’d like it to be more tart, or any other veggies or toppings you like to make it your own.
Enjoy!
—
Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite Winter-time salad?
I love how you managed to warm up a salad. It’s 10 degrees here in Buffalo, so cold, you can’t even take the kids outside. Or even go anywhere because their face will freeze! I totally see myself adding bacon to the top and probably a little chicken while I’m at it. It’s crazy that my kids love to eat salad, but maybe that’s just what they are used too? However, my toddler just NOT like using a fork like yours does, I’m a little jealous. She hurled two spoons at me yesterday when she couldn’t operate them properly.
This how I’ve been eating all my salads lately, a little warm, a little crunchy, and almost always with goat cheese on top! Will definitely be adding this to the repertoire!
This time of year, I love warm salads and spinach is what I put in all of them! Love the sound of that cashew Parmesan!
This recipe came right on time! We try to eat healthy and use recipes that have vegetables that are on sale at the market every week. Spinach is extremely inexpensive this week and I was looking for recipes to use it. Thanks!
Thanks for this! I look forward to trying it :0). It looks like my favorite take on warm salad, so far, & I love how it would make a complete meal with just a few ingredients! (Sometimes, I just feel like having as few ingredients at once, as possible – esp. in the winter!)
I made this for dinner last night!! Loved it! I will be making it again and again! Thanks
I really enjoyed this. I accidentally picked up a mix of baby greens – spinach, kale, bok choy and it worked great. I also used baby portobello mushrooms. Loved the warm greens.
Thank you! Loved this for the winter! I think I’ll be making this a lot.
A beautiful combination of ingredients! I should eat more lentils, this salad would be a great way to add them to my diet.
I made this today, it was delicious! I used a mix of kale and spinach, otherwise followed everything exactly. I was tempted to add garlic thinking it might lack flavour, but it was great and I will make it again!
This was very good ! As a grad student with a tight budget and little time to cook, I will come back to this ! Thanks
This was really good and super easy. Can’t believe I never thought to put those together. I eat spinach almost daily and usually have a salad a few times a week and love sautéed mushrooms and onions. Thanks!
Simple salad yet amazingly delicious!!!!!
This was great! I actually put it on top of a bed of rice noodles, diced tomatoes, salt and basil!
Thanks for the easy, fast base recipe. I sauteed the onions with garlic puree then had the final meal come together with two soft boiled eggs and nutritional yeast. Next time I’ll top it with walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes.
I made this Saturday as a side dish. I used balsamic vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar. Served it over arugula because that’s what I had on hand and left out the goat cheese because I forgot to add it. I t was so delicious. My husband couldn’t wait until the next day to have the leftovers.
Yum
This was excellent! Easy and adaptable, with very little fat and lots of flavor.
The photo on the white plate looks as if the spinach was TOPPED with the mushroom mixture, not tossed together as in the instructions.
It’s prettier if you use the mushrooms as a topping, but the taste is MUCH better in my opinion if you toss it together with the spinach so that it gets coated in all the flavoring from the cooked mushrooms.
This was fantastic! Didn’t add the cheese because we had another protein with the meal but I’m sure it would be a tasty addition.
This will be a go-to recipe. So easy and great for side dish or entrée