Shopping for Dinner in My Backyard

Finally.  After a long winter, I can shop outside again.

I bought this small Shiitake Mushroom Cookbook published the year I graduated high school.  I was able to preview its table of contents online and knew there would be lots of recipes I'd want to try.  One of the things I already learned from reading the cooking instructions in the front of the book was that they need to be cooked over low heat to keep them from getting chewy.  Boy, did it work.  They were melt in your mouth soft.

This salad came together based on what I found outside.  Chopped asparagus and sliced Shiitake mushrooms (stems removed) were sauteed separately in some butter.  Once cooked, I combined them with a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar and some salt.  I transferred them warm onto beds of young lettuce and topped the salad with feta cheese.  

Swoon.

I am falling in love with our mushroom logs.  Frequent soakings this spring has kept them producing nicely. I'm psyched for the next batch because I have a lot of new recipes to try.  

To find out how we got started with Shiitake mushrooms, read here.

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