This healthy and delicious Morel Mushroom and Quinoa Salad is bursting with earthy flavor. It’s plant-based, vegetarian, and can easily be made vegan.
Morel mushrooms are wild mushrooms highly prized for their rich, meaty flavor. This recipes uses dried morels to their full advantage.
First, the quinoa is cooked in the liquid leftover from rehydrating the mushrooms. This imparts the quinoa with an incredible, rich flavor.
(Admittedly, I’m not the world’s biggest fan of quinoa, but this technique alone makes it delicious).
Next, the rehydrated morels are sautéd with some shallots, garlic, thyme, and arugula. (Hello!)
Finally, everything gets tossed up together and dressed with some toasted pine nuts and goat cheese as the proverbial cherries on top.
It’s earthy. It’s nutty. It’s basically like eating dirt on a plate…that is, if dirt tasted like the best thing to ever touch your lips.
Recipe Ingredients
For this morel mushroom recipe you’ll need:
- dried morel mushrooms: it’s hard to match their flavor, but you can substitute with other meaty dried mushrooms like porcini
- quinoa: any variety will work in this recipe, but I like to use golden as I find it has a fluffier texture
- pine nuts
- shallot
- garlic
- arugula: it’s my all-time favorite green, but baby spinach also works just as well
- fresh thyme
- lemon juice
- olive oil
- goat cheese or soft vegan cheese: optional, but it does add a nice tang and creaminess to the salad
- sea salt
- black pepper
Cooking with Dried Morels vs Fresh Morels
There is some hot debate in the edible mushroom community about wether dried morels might actually be superior to fresh ones when it comes to culinary purposes.
Some (myself included) actually prefer cooking with dried morel mushrooms for several reasons.
- Superior flavor: the dehydration process concentrates all the flavor of the mushroom, making it much more meaty and earthy. When rehydrated, the resulting liquid also makes an incredible stock.
- Better texture: after being dried and rehydrated, morel mushrooms have a firmer texture which stands up well to higher heat cooking methods like sautéing.
- Availability: the window for foraging for morels is notoriously short and often unpredictable, usually lasting for just a few weeks depending on where you live. Once properly dried though, then can last for years. Even if you don’t forage for them yourself, dried morels are become more commonly found in grocery stores and from online sellers.
Of course nothing beats the thrill of cooking freshly foraged morels, and they do have advantages for certain dishes, particularly when they are stuffed with a filling and baked in an oven.
How to Make Morel Mushroom and Quinoa Salad
Start by rehydrating the dried morels. Place the mushrooms in a bowl and cover with 2 cups of boiling water.
Allow them to soak for 20-30 minutes.
Remove the morel mushrooms from the bowl and reserve the liquid.
Pro tip: Being hollow fungi, the morels will be full of liquid after soaking – make sure to empty the liquid back into the bowl as you remove them.
Slice the morel mushrooms in half or quarter any larger ones.
Strain the liquid through some cheesecloth or a fin mesh strainer into a measuring cup (this step is to remove any dirt or grit lurking in the water).
You should have about 1 1/2 cups of liquid leftover. If you have less, just add some water to make up the difference.
Place the liquid in a large saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Stir in 3/4 cup of rinsed quinoa along with a pinch of sea salt.
Bring everything back to a boil, then cover the pot and reduce the heat to low.
Simmer the quinoa for about 15 minutes until it has absorbed all the liquid, then remove the pot from heat.
Meanwhile, add the pine nuts to a large skillet and set it over medium low heat.
Toast the pine nuts, stirring often, until they are fragrant and golden brown, then transfer them to a plate and set aside.
Return the skillet back to the stove, increase the heat to medium, and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the pan.
Add the shallot and cook it for a few minutes, then add the sliced morels.
Cook the morels, stirring occasionally, until they are tender and slightly brown, about 8-10 minutes.
Be sure to watch the morels carefully at this point, as they can easily burn. If they start to get too dry, just add a few tablespoons of water to the pan.
Add some mince garlic, fresh thyme, and a pinch of sea salt to the pan and continue cooking for another few minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
Finally, toss in the arugula and cook until it is just wilted, about another minute or two.
Combine the mushroom mixture with the cooked quinoa. Dress everything with another glug of olive oil and some fresh lemon juice, then give it a good stir.
Top the salad with the toasted pine nuts and some crumbled goat cheese (or vegan cheese) if desired and enjoy!
More Tasty Mushroom Recipes
- Pan Fried Oyster Mushrooms
- Sautéed Chicken of the Woods
- Lion’s Mane Mushroom “Crab” Cakes
- Shaggy Mane Mushroom Soup
Morel Mushroom and Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- .5 ounces dried morel mushrooms
- 2 cups boiling water
- 3/4 cups golden quinoa rinsed
- 1/4 cups pine nuts
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1/4 cup sliced shallots
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 4 cups baby arugula
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ounce goat cheese or soft vegan cheese crumbled
- fine sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the dried morels in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow the mushrooms to rehydrate for 20-30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the water, reserving the liquid, and slice in half or quarters for larger mushrooms.
- Strain the reserved mushroom liquid through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer into a large liquid measuring cup. Adjust, adding more water if necessary, to reach a volume of 1.5 cups.
- Pour the mushroom liquid into a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil. Stir in the quinoa along with a pinch of sea salt. Return to a boil, cover the pot, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all the liquid, then remove the pot from heat.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts and toast until fragrant and golden brown, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer the pine nuts to a dish and set aside.
- Return the skillet to medium heat and add two tablespoons of olive oil. Add the shallot and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sliced morels to the skillet and sauté until they are fragrant and slightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, thyme and small pinch of sea salt to the skillet and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the arugula to the skillet and cook until it is just wilted, 1-2 minutes, then remove the skillet from heat.
- Combine the quinoa and mushroom mixture together in a large bowl. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper, and toss. Top with the toasted pine nuts and crumbled cheese.
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Erica
Sunday 14th of May 2023
Do you have any thoughts on how to make this with fresh morels?
The Sophisticated Caveman
Monday 15th of May 2023
Fresh morels would totally work! I would just sauté cleaned and sliced caps with the shallots as directed and then use your favorite mushroom or veggie stock to boil the quinoa in.