I love eating crispy mushroom tacos with our family. One night I accidentally made a delicious crispy mushroom salad, complete with turmeric yogurt, feta, corn and caramelized onions, and cilantro.
Tacos are a popular family meal over here. Especially our crispy mushroom and steak tacos with turmeric yogurt. They’re ready in under 30 minutes, and they’re fun for our kids to assemble.
But I’ve been trying to ditch the last ten pounds of baby weight, so I’m trying to keep it light on the carbs. There are a couple of tricks I’ve personally found to be extremely successful. One is to start every meal by chugging a large glass of water. The second is to start every meal with a salad. And that’s how we got this crispy mushroom taco salad.
One night, I piled a bunch of arugula onto my plate alongside some tacos. It got mixed up with the mushrooms, yogurt, and other taco toppings. Suddenly, I found myself not really even needing the tortilla. I think I had one actual taco toward the end of the meal, but the salad version of the taco was (surprisingly for me) totally satisfying.
Crispy Mushrooms
I think this makes a great stand alone salad, or a great add on if you’re making tacos for the family already. It has the bonus of having warm, crispy mushrooms mixed in, which makes having a salad for dinner feel more like a proper meal.
If you’re not a huge mushroom fan, the spice rub also works very well on skirt steak. Both cook quite fast. I recently have been making both so that we have multiple toppings for tacos.
Family Taco / Salad Meal Combo
I’ve been making this salad now whenever we make our crispy mushroom tacos. I make tacos as usual, but instead of using purple cabbage (listed in the original taco recipe), I use arugula tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Those eating tacos can just use arugula as a topping in place of the original cabbage. I use the arugula as a base for the salad.
If you’re also making tacos . . .
Follow the recipe for crispy mushroom /steak tacos, with the following swaps:
- Swap out the 2 cups of cabbage for 5 packed cups of arugula.
- Make the caramelized onion and corn topping. I’ve already added it to the taco recipe as an option for ease of reference. It’s good on both tacos and on the salad.
Taco-Inspired Crispy Mushroom Salad
This salad was inspired by one of our family favorites: crispy mushroom tacos! It’s designed to work with that recipe so that you can make tacos for the family alongside a salad for the adults (and any children willing to give it a try).
- Total Time: 30 min
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Ingredients
Mushrooms / Steak
1 lb of skirt steak]
Spice Rub for Mushrooms (or skirt steak)
Caramelized Onion & Corn
1 red onion
1 cup frozen corn
Turmeric Yogurt
Other Toppings
1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Mix the spice rub.
Mix together in a small bowl:
3. Prepare mushrooms to bake.
Clean the 1 lb of mushroom caps by brushing off any obvious dirt and then using a damp cloth to wipe them clean. Avoid washing them with water as the mushrooms will absorb the water and not crisp up properly in the oven.
Slice the caps into 1/4-inch thick slices. Quarter one red onion and break the quarters apart a bit.
Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Dump the mushroom caps and onion onto the sheet pan. Sprinkle the spice rub over the the mushrooms and onions. Spray down well with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Toss. Spray it down well with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Toss again. Spread the mushrooms and onions in as much of a single layer as possible. Spray it down 1 last time with 1 tbsp of olive oil. (This is how I spray with olive oil; if you don’t have a sprayer, you can drizzle & toss)
Note: If you decide to double the mushrooms for whatever reason, make sure to use two sheet pans. If you put too many mushrooms / onions on one sheet pan the result will be non-crispy sadness.
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
When they’re finished, they should look crisp in parts and still chewy in others.
5. Make the caramelized onion & corn.
While the mushrooms cook, chop the onion. Heat a pan over medium heat with about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Cook the onion for 5-8 minutes over low-medium heat until it begins to caramelize (see picture below).
Then add the 1 cup of corn (fresh or frozen). Add 1/4 tsp of salt. Stir to mix and then spread it in an even layer and let it cook for 2 minutes over low-medium heat. Stir, spread in an even layer, and let it cook for 2 more minutes. Repeat this until the corn is hot and beginning to caramelize a bit. (See picture below.) Then take it off the heat. It’s done.
6. OPTION: If you’re making skirt steak instead.
Mix the spice mixture with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Then rub down the surface of the skirt steak well with the olive oil spice rub.
Let a cast iron or stainless steel skillet (just don’t use a nonstick) preheat for at least 1 minute at medium-high heat. Let it get quite hot. Spray it down with avocado oil. Plop on the steak. Cook for 3 minutes, undisturbed. Flip, and cook another 2 minutes on the other side. Temp it at this point. Take it off as soon as it hits 125F to have it finish at medium rare. If it’s not there yet, reduce the heat slightly and continue cooking until the center of the steak reaches 125F.
Once the internal temperature reaches 125F, take it off the heat and allow it to rest for 10 min before slicing.
7. Prepare yogurt topping.
Prepare the yogurt topping by mixing the 3/4 cup Greek yogurt with the 1 tsp of turmeric. Add 2-4 tbsp of water until the Greek yogurt is at a good texture (not super thick, but not quite runny).
8. Prepare the other toppings.
Wash your arugula and toss with with 1-2 tbsp of olive oil, salt, and some pepper.
Wash the cilantro well and roughly chop. Set aside.
Crumble the feta. Set aside.
9. Assemble the salad.
I assemble this on my plate (usually everyone else is eating tacos). So I do 2 big scoops of arugula, top with the mushrooms (or steak), add a couple of spoonfuls of corn, a plop or two of yogurt, a couple spoonfuls of feta, and a hearty pinch of cilantro.
If you feel like it needs some acidity, you could squeeze some lemon or lime over the salad, but I haven’t felt the need for it given how flavorful the toppings are.
9. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: Salad
- Method: bake
