Page 524 - YC Cooking School

A few topping tips

Quickly turn a hearty salad base into a hero dish by adding in a protein source such as
shredded roast chicken, flakes of fresh grilled fish, crispy bacon, chorizo bits, or slivers

of just-cooked steak.
For vegetable toppings like mushrooms, don’t worry about chopping them into
uniform shapes and sizes. Part of the charm of simple salads is their casual, “thrown
together” appearance.
Adding a little olive oil to the butter in the pan when cooking vegetables keeps the
butter from burning.
When cooking mushrooms, go for a relatively high heat so that they cook quickly and
don’t lose too much moisture. Also, remember that adding a drizzle of balsamic
vinegar to the mushrooms gives them a gorgeous rich, sticky sweetness and a pretty
caramel colour.

Add a little flare to a simple salad in the form of fresh herbs. Mint, flat-leaf parsley,
basil and coriander are excellent, versatile options.

Cheat sheet for this lesson’s recipes

Ingredient substitutions, shortcuts and time-saving tips

1. Instead of wild mushrooms, you can use brown, butter or Portobellini mushrooms -
whatever you can find.
2. If you’re not a fan of hot stuff, leave the chilli out of the vinaigrette.

3. Vinaigrette keeps beautifully, so make a larger batch and enjoy it with a few meals
during the week.

Learn to cook online at learn.yuppiechef.com

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