This salad is intentionally delicious and accidentally vegan and combines the smoky flavour of grilled mushrooms with the brightness of pickled beetroot, the freshness of crisp shaved fennel, and the fruity floral aromatics of toasted wild rice and black walnut, making for a unique experience both in flavour and texture.
Hen of the Woods Mushroom Salad
Mike Stilson
Chef Mike Stilson has been running the kitchen at Woodlot Restaurant, a small restaurant based around their wood burning oven in Little Italy in Toronto, since the spring of 2015. They offer two menus, one for meat eaters and another for vegans and vegetarians. They are one of the few restaurants using their wood oven for everything but pizzas.A winning combination of wild and local ingredients, this grilled mushroom salad is a celebration of the mushrooms’ affinity for soaking up the smoky flavours of the grill, and is best made on a wood or charcoal grill. Intentionally delicious and accidentally vegan, the dish combines the brightness of pickled beetroot, the freshness of crisp shaved fennel, and the fruity, floral aromatics of toasted wild rice and black walnut contrast and complement the smoky, savoury mushrooms, making for a unique experience both in flavour and texture.
Wild Rice
- 1 ⅓ cups wild rice
- 1 Spanish onion peeled and halved
- 1 head garlic peeled and halved horizontally
- 1 bulb fennel peeled and halved
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 strips orange zest
- 1 carrot peeled and halved
- 2 stalks celery
- 2-3 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp walnut oil optional
Salad
- 6 tbsp sweet pickled beets with their liquid
- 3 tbsp black walnuts toasted in a 350°F oven until aromatic (see Tip, below)
- ½ bulb fennel shaved thinly and shocked in ice water for 30 seconds to crisp (see Tip, below)
- 3 tbsp confit shallot (see Tip, below)
- 1 tbsp fresh cut chive
- 1 tbsp fresh cut parsley
- Salt to taste
Garnish
- 200 g Maitake (hen of the woods) mushrooms (substitute bunched mushrooms such as king, oyster, or beech; see Tip, below)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Dill sprigs
- Puffed wild rice optional
- Lemon to taste
Toast raw wild rice on a baking sheet with parchment at 350°F until it becomes aromatic. Put wild rice, onion, carrot, celery, fennel, garlic, orange zest, and bay leaves in a small stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring pot to a rolling simmer on medium high heat, then turn it down to low heat, and cook until the rice grains begin to open up, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Once the grains are open, take the pot off the heat, and add salt and let it sit for 5 minutes. Strain the cooked rice, spread it on a tray, remove aromatics, then drizzle the rice with walnut oil while it’s still warm. Stir and then let cool.
Combine rice, beets, walnuts, shaved fennel, shallot, chive, parsley, and salt in a mixing bowl. Season to taste. Allow to come to room temperature.
Break the mushrooms into bite sized pieces and toss with olive oil and salt. Place the mushrooms on a grilling grate, and cook on a hot bed of embers until the edges begin to colour and the mushrooms are tender and smoky, about 4 or 5 minutes, turning as needed.
To finish the dish, garnish the wild rice mixture with fresh sprigs of dill and puffed wild rice (if using). Taste and season the grilled maitakes with salt and lemon as needed, then artfully place them on top of the wild rice mixture.
Tip: You can find black walnuts in many greengrocers and stores that offer wild foods (Whole Foods Market and Forbes Wild Foods carry them year-round). Be sure to buy them with the shells removed—it's a pain to shell them yourself. They offer a unique flavour to the dish but are pricey. Regular walnuts will work fine, but it is definitely worth toasting them beforehand.
Tip: For the shaved fennel, split the fennel into quarters and remove the cores. Slice them lengthwise on a mandolin or with a sharp knife in order to get long, delicate ribbons.
Tip: You can find maitakes (hen of the woods) year-round in many greengrocers in larger centres or in bigger grocery stores. Oyster mushrooms work as a substitute, but I do find maitakes have an amazing capacity to soak up the smoke. We usually separate them into bite-sized pieces—break them down too small and they could fall through the grill. Larger pieces will char and become bitter before they are cooked through.
Tip: Confit shallot adds an incredible burst of flavour. Buy it in specialty food stores or, to make your own, cover 1/4 cup of finely diced shallots in olive oil (1/3 cup). Cook over low heat until translucent. Keyword hen of the woods, mushrooms, salad, vegan
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