Sesame Spinach Salad

We didn’t have any to-do’s to check off today, so I had some time on my hands. I decided to cook up some beans. (Which, nicely enough, isn’t very hands-on, so I could do it while finishing the book I was reading :-).

In my head, “I’m going to spend time cooking beans” also meant “I can spend the time to caramelize some onions.” (Not really related, I know.) But this is the salad that developed out of that. I think it was pretty good.

Sesame Spinach Salad

• 1 onion, sliced into half moons
• 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
• 2 1/2 cups oyster mushrooms
• 3 cups spinach
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil plus more for drizzling
• freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring infrequently until the onions are dry. Then add the oils and stir well. Continue cooking, stirring intermittently, until the onions are slightly crispy and golden brown color. Probably another half hour or so. Remove the onions from the pan.
2. Turn the heat to high and toss in the mushrooms. Add a couple cranks of black pepper and a couple spoonfuls of water. (If you cooked the beans yourself, use the water that you cooked them in.) Cook for a minute or two, until the mushrooms soften, then remove from heat.
3. Mix the spinach, mushrooms, and beans in a bowl. Add a drizzle of sesame seed oil and a couple more cranks of pepper. Serve topped with a generous portion of crispy caramelized onions.

Serves 2-3

I served this as a warm salad. My beans and mushrooms were warm, and this wilted the spinach a bit.  Alternatively, you could allow the mushrooms and beans to cool and serve the salad at room temperature. Or you could not cook the mushrooms and have everything else chilled. Whatever suites your fancy. If you did not cook your own beans, but still want to go the warm route, use hot water when you rinse them to warm them up.