Warm Chanterelle Salad with Onions, Berries and White Cheddar Toast

Warm Chanterelle Salad with Onions, Berries and White Cheddar ToastIt’s the Berries!
Lately, the weather has been kinda, well… weird. It’s Summer. It should be warm–or at least warmer. Yes, we had a few days of super hot temps, but those came and went.

The good news is that the cooler weather is making my blackberry bramble come to life. If this keeps up, I’m gonna be knee-deep in berries. I know. There are worse problems to have.

I will use ‘em for our annual jam, and I am looking for other ideas for my excess of berries. There are the obvious cobblers, crumbles, scones, etc.…but I am longing for something less bad for you and more on the savory side. It ain’t easy. However, I am discovering promising possibilities.

I’ll start with a Warm Chanterelle Salad with Onions, Berries, and White Cheddar Toast. The recipe below is from one of my absolute favorite cookbooks, Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest by Cory Schreiber. This is the kind of book that makes a certain individual want to drop everything and move to the country to start raising goats to make cheese regardless of whether she knows what she’s doing. Sigh, someday…

If you can’t find chanterelle mushrooms you can use cremini, but I recommend the chanterelles when you can get ‘em. 

Warm Chanterelle Salad with Onions, Berries and White Cheddar Toast
Wildwood: Cooking From The Source in The Pacific Northwest by Cory Schreiber
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 white onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick and separated into rings
3 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 pound chanterelle or cremini mushrooms, or a mixture, wiped clean and sliced
4 cups (4 ounces) mixed baby greens
2 cups fresh raspberries or blackberries
Two 1/4-inch slices of thick crusted country bread, halved and toasted
1/4 cup shredded white Cheddar cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, or crumbled fresh white goat cheese.

Directions
Preheat the broiler. Line a broiler pan with aluminum foil. In a medium bowl, toss the onion slices with 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed or canola oil, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Put the onion rings on the prepared pan and broil 4 inches from the heat source for 5 to 6 minutes, or until slightly charred and softened. Let cool; set aside. Leave the broiler on.
To prepare the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together the orange zest, orange juice, olive oil, vinegar, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 3/4 teaspoon of the pepper; set aside.

In a 12-inch skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until lightly browned. remove from heat and drain.

In a salad bowl, toss the greens, berries, warm mushrooms, and onions with the vinaigrette.

Quickly top the toast with the cheese and melt under the broiler.

To serve, portion the salad onto 4 plates. Top each serving with a toast.

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