Shiitake Bacon, Lettuce & Roasted Tomato Quinoa Salad
I could probably shorten this to "BLT Quinoa Salad". I mean, let's call a spade a spade, right? This salad puts a (slightly) fancy, vegan twist on a classic BLT by 1| swapping out bacon for crispy, salty, smoky shiitake "bacon", 2| benching iceberg and sending fresh butter lettuce onto the field plate ,3| casting aside bland, sliced tomatoes and making room for roasted roma tomato wedges, 4| bidding mayo farewell and welcoming fresh, flavorful sunflower seed + basil dressing, and 5| trading sliced bread for quinoa.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the Shiitake Bacon
- 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, de-stemmed and thinly sliced (about ⅛-1/4-inch thick)
- 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt or to taste
- black pepper, to taste
For the Roasted Plum Tomatoes
- 4 roma tomatoes, cut into sixths (wedges)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- black pepper, to taste
For the Quinoa
- 1 ¾ cups water
- 1 cup quinoa, thoroughly rinsed
- ⅛-1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- black pepper, to taste
For Sunflower-Basil Dressing
- ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
- ⅓ cup raw sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup packed basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To Assemble
- 1 head butter lettuce, washed and roughly torn
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
To Make Shiitake Bacon
- Line a pan with parchment paper.
- Add the shiitakes, olive oil, salt, and paper. Toss to coat, and bake for 25-35 minutes (varies depending on how thinly you slice the shiitakes), flipping every 10 minutes until you have a crispy-chewy bacon. Let cool.
To Make the Roasted Plum Tomatoes
- Line a pan with parchment paper.
- Add the tomato wedges, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat, and roast for 30-35 minutes (along with the shiitake bacon). Let cool.
To Make the Quinoa
- Bring the water to a boil in a heavy, 2-quart saucepan. Add 1 cup quinoa, return to a boil, and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all the water.
- Remove from the heat, fluff, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Season with sea salt and black pepper.
To Make the Sunflower-Basil Dressing
- Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender, and blend on high for 3-4 minutes or until smooth and creamy. If you don't have a high-powered blender, I recommend soaking the sunflower seeds in hot water for 30 minutes beforehand.
To Assemble
- Create a bed of lettuce on a plate, top with quinoa, roasted tomatoes, and shiitake bacon. Drizzle with sunflower-basil dressing, and serve immediately.
- Refrigerate leftovers.