Grilled Portobello Mushroom Greek Salad & Kalamata Olive Dressing

Greek salads are one of the go-to dinners at our house.  We love good feta cheese, and Greek salads are a great excuse to enjoy lots of it!

I was at a local Orlando restaurant a few weeks ago that had a super delicious kalamata olive dressing and I thought to myself, I could totally make this dressing at home…  so I did 🙂

My rendition of this dressing has a nice balance of earthy flavors from the oregano, a salty bite from the olives and richness from the olive oil.  It was really great on our Greek salads, which I spruced up with some grilled Portobello mushrooms.  Yum!

As for the salad, you can customize this with whatever your favorite salad ingredients are and the quantities you like.  This time I used romaine lettuce, hearts of palm, cucumber, grape tomatoes, feta cheese, kalamata olives and pepperoncini peppers.  Other favorites that I rotate into the mix include bell peppers, artichokes, baby corn, heirloom tomatoes, black olives and onions.  You can’t go wrong!

What you’ll need: extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, kalamata olives, olive juice, Portobello mushroom caps, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, hearts of palm, pepperoncini peppers, feta cheese, salt and pepper.

First, let’s get the dressing prepared.  Combine the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, kalamata olives, olive juice and salt in your food processor and blend until combined.  You may want to give your olives a rough chop before going into the food processor, just in case you get a stray seed in one of them.  Once it’s combined, transfer to a container and store in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Now, let’s prepare the salad.  I like to marinate the mushrooms because it gives them great flavor and they are juicier at the end.  Remove the stems and with a damp paper towel clean the mushroom caps to get off any excess dirt.  Drizzle the mushroom caps with extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and rub into both sides of the mushroom caps with your hands.  Let them marinate on a plate for about 10 minutes.

While the mushrooms are marinating, prepare the rest of the salad.  Divide the chopped romaine, halved tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced hearts of palm, feta cheese and pepperoncini peppers among two plates.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Grill the mushroom caps for about 4-5 minutes per side on your grill until they are juicy and tender.  Transfer to a cutting board and slice into strips.  Place the mushroom strips on top of the salad.

Whisk the kalamata olive dressing and drizzle over the salads.  Serve the extra dressing on the side.  Enjoy while the mushrooms are hot!

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Greek Salad with Kalamata Olive Dressing

Serves 2 (Plus extra dressing for future salads!)

For the Kalamata Olive Dressing: 

• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 2 teaspoons olive juice from the jar
• salt to taste

Steps

1. Combine all ingredients in your food process and blend until combined.
2. Transfer to a container and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

For the Greek Salad:

• 2 large Portobello mushroom caps, stems removed
• drizzles of extra virgin olive oil & red wine vinegar for marinating
• 2 hearts of romaine, chopped
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 of a medium cucumber, diced
• 1 15oz can of hearts of palm, drained and diced
• pepperoncini peppers (optional)
• 1/2 cup fresh feta cheese, crumbled
• salt and pepper

Steps

1. Spray your grill or grill pan with cooking spray and preheat your to medium-high.
2. Take a damp paper towel and clean the mushroom caps.
3. Drizzle the mushroom caps with extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
4. Rub into both sides of the mushroom caps with your hands and let them marinate for 10 minutes.
5. While the mushrooms are marinating, prepare the rest of the salad.
6. Divide the romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, hearts of palm, feta cheese and pepperoncini peppers among two plates.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Grill the mushroom caps for about 4-5 minutes per side on your grill until they are juicy and tender.  Transfer to a cutting board and slice into strips.
8. Place the mushroom strips on top of the salad.

Whisk the kalamata olive dressing and drizzle over the salads.  Serve the extra dressing on the side.

Hugs, kisses and yummy dishes… xoxo

Lauren