Cold Asian Greens and Mushrooms with Sesame Vinaigrette
This cold Asian greens and mushrooms dish is tasty and incredibly easy to make. A light and bright sesame vinaigrette ties everything together, making this dish a delicious appetizer or a light meal!
Course Appetizers, Main Dishes, Side Dishes
Cuisine Asian
Keyword cold Asian dishes, low-carb, vegan side dishes, vegetarian
Trim ends off stalks of gai lan. Cut stalks in half.
Cut oyster mushrooms into bite-sized pieces.
Bring water in a medium-sized pot to a boil on the stovetop.
Add the mushrooms to the water and cook for 1 minute. Use a strainer or slotted spoon to transfer the mushrooms to bowl with cold water.
In a bowl, add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil for the vinaigrette. Drain the mushrooms and add to the dressing, stirring to coat. Let marinate.
Add salt to the same pot of boiling water (adding more water, if necessary, so that the greens will be submerged). Add the gai lan to the pot and cook for 5 minutes until stalks are tender, but not overcooked.
Use a strainer or slotted spoon to transfer the gai lan to a separate bowl with cold water.
Drain the gai lan and arrange on a plate or in separate dishes.
Top each mound of gai lan with the mushrooms. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the greens.
Garnish with sesame seeds, chopped green onions, chili pepper flakes, if desired.
Notes
Serves 2 as a side dish, serves 1 as a meal.
¼ lb. is approximately 113 grams in weight.
Baby gai lan has more tender stalks and are rarely woody.
If you use regular gai lan, trim the woody ends off the stems.
Cut regular sized gai lan into 3 or 4 sections vs. 2 sections for baby gai lan.
Substitute the gai lan with other Asian greens such as choy sum, bok choy, pea shoots, or other tender greens such as snow peas, or sugar snap peas.
Salting the water for cooking the gai-lan will help give the greens some flavor.
Substitute the oyster mushrooms with other Asian type mushrooms like enoki, king trumpet, or fresh shiitake.
Let the mushrooms sit in the vinaigrette dressing while you are preparing the gai-lan so that the mushrooms can marinate.
Mix in some dried chili flakes into your dressing to add heat to your salad.
Gai lan and mushrooms can be cooked ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator separately (not mixed with the dressing) until ready for serving.