Warm Crispy Summer Salad

They say "the more colourful your plate, the more packed nutrients you're getting"!

Sometimes a variety of colours, which means a variety of vegetables and fruit, conflicts with the amount of time you have / want to make a certain dish. I'm one of those people that can cook for hours when in the right mood for it but rather prefers fast meals.

Weird as it may sound, I am one of those people that prefer home cooking to fast- / takeaway food when given the option to pick. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that its hard to find a good vegetarian option outside of one's home - its always a Greek salad, fruit salad, some form of crisp and boiled vegetables - there is nothing wrong with those options but sometimes one prefers variety and one does eat with the eyes first, specifically on days where an appetite is hard to summon.

Long story short, when I want food, I usually want it  NOW!!

So for lunch I decided to make a warm crispy salad. This consisted of button mushrooms, white onion, green pepper, sweet basil, Italian parsley and chilli flakes. Mind you I did have fresh chilli on hand but couldn't be bothered to chop them for two reasons. One, and perhaps the more pertinent of reasons is I have a swollen eye and touch my face quite often, and anyone that has dealt with chilli knows how it lingers and transfers wherever one touches. The second reason, and by no means less relevant, I feel lazy.

I then seasoned these ingredients  with salt and marinated with olive oil and red wine vinegar. In the meantime I turned the stove on high and placed a non-stick pan on the said stove. Once hot, I placed everything in pan (sans marinade) into the pan and reduce the heat to low.

Once browned, I poured in the marinade and switched the stove on high again and closed with a lid.

Once tender, removed the lid, and allowed any liquid to evaporate and caramelised the veggies.

I then tore some lettuce leaves, fresh basil and coriander leaves and placed them on a plate.

And proceeded to top off with the cooked veggies. I then drizzled some, about a teaspoon, of red wine vinegar over the veggies.

Finally I served this with a glass of chilled white wine, namely a Chenin Blanc.