Warm Mushroom Salad With Miso Dressing (Vegan)
This warm mushroom salad recipe is made with kale, farro, avocado, and topped with a delicious miso-sesame dressing. It’s a hearty vegan salad that can been enjoyed as a side or a main!
Think you can only enjoy salads in the summer? Think again! This warm, hearty mushroom and kale salad is the perfect cold weather dish.
This winter salad recipe is filled with healthy, nourishing ingredients like sautéed mushrooms, lacinato kale, whole grain farro, and healthy fat sources like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and avocado.
Everything is topped with the most delicious homemade miso-sesame dressing, which pairs beautifully with the umami flavours of the mushrooms.
You can enjoy this warm mushroom salad as a side dish or even as a main. It’s sort of like a cross between a salad and a grain bowl, in that sense!
This recipe is naturally vegan and can easily be made gluten-free by swapping the farro with a gluten-free whole grain like brown rice or quinoa.
Want more delicious, hearty salad recipe inspiration? Check out my roundup of 15+ fall and winter salad recipes for more ideas!
Recipe Ingredients Needed
- lacinato kale
- cremini mushrooms
- farro
- raw sunflower seeds
- raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- avocado
- miso paste
- olive or avocado oil
- toasted sesame oil
- rice wine vinegar
- garlic powder
- ground ginger
Recipe Modification Ideas
There are a few ways you can modify this mushroom kale salad recipe! For instance:
- Try using a different whole grain in place of farro. Something like quinoa or brown or wild rice would work well!
- Try adding some extra veggies to this salad – it would taste great with sautéed broccoli or asparagus!
Note: if you need to follow a gluten-free diet, be sure to swap the farro for a gluten-free whole grain (like quinoa or brown rice). Farro is NOT gluten-free.
What To Serve With Mushroom Salad
If you’d like to enjoy this warm mushroom salad as a main meal, I recommend topping the salad with a quality source of protein. Some ideas:
- hard boiled eggs
- crispy tofu
- fried tempeh
Otherwise, serve this salad as a side dish to your main meal!
Can You Eat This Salad Cold?
Yes, of course! I recommend eating it warm when you first make it (it’s so hearty and comforting this way), but if you have leftovers of the salad you can totally enjoy those cold.
Leftovers of this salad will keep for about 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. The wonderful thing about kale is that it doesn’t get soggy!
TIP: If you do plan on having leftovers, only add the avocado to the portion you want to eat immediately. Store leftovers without avocado, and again add it when you’re ready to serve the leftovers! This will prevent the avocado from browning.
Mushroom Nutrition Facts
Mushrooms are a source of multiple B-vitamins, like:
- niacin
- riboflavin
- pantothenic acid
They’re also a good source of minerals, including:
- selenium
- copper
- potassium
- phosphorus
Something unique about mushrooms? They are actually one of the few non-fortified food sources of vitamin D!
Vitamin D plays a critical role in calcium absorption, helping to keep your bones healthy and strong.
Kale Nutrition Facts
Just one cup of kale provides over 100% of your daily needs of:
- vitamin A (206%)
- vitamin K (684%)
- vitamin C (134%)
Kale is also a good source of other micronutrients like:
- manganese
- magnesium
- potassium
- calcium
- copper
- vitamin B6
That same cup provides 2 grams of dietary fibre, helping to keep your gut and heart happy.
In addition to micronutrients, kale is also loaded with antioxidants, which prevent cellular damage and provide a multitude of health benefits.
Miso Nutrition Facts
Because miso paste is made by fermenting soybeans, it’s a natural source of beneficial gut microbes that appear to play a role in many aspects of human health.
Miso is also rich in micronutrients such as:
- manganese
- vitamin K
- copper
- zinc
PS. Miso + mushrooms are one of my favourite ingredient pairings. If you love this flavour combination too, be sure to check out this Creamy Vegan Miso Mushroom Soup and this Cheesy Miso Mushroom Rice!
More Hearty Salad Recipes
- Roasted Broccoli Salad With Cranberry, Farro & Feta
- Vegan Kale & Brussels Sprout Caesar Salad
- Kale Butternut Squash Salad With Farro & Goat Cheese
- Warm Prune Salad With Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Massaged Kale Salad With Sweet Potato & Pomegranate
Did you give this Warm Mushroom Salad Recipe a try? Let me know by leaving a comment and recipe rating below!
If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or Pinterest – seeing your creations always makes my day. You can also subscribe to my email list to never miss a new recipe or nutrition education post!
Get the Recipe: Warm Mushroom Salad With Miso Dressing (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 cup farro, dry
- 5 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil (to cook mushrooms)
- 4 cups lacinato kale, shredded (1 large bunch)
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1 avocado, cut into chunks
- Salt + pepper, to taste
Miso-Sesame Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp avocado or olive oil
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp miso paste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1-2 Tbsp hot water
Instructions
- Cook farro according to package directions. Or follow instructions for my favourite way to prepare it: the "pasta method".
- While farro cooks, chop kale and slice mushrooms. Set kale aside in a large salad or mixing bowl.
- Make salad dressing by whisking together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Then, heat a pan over medium-high. Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil and sauté mushrooms for about 10 minutes, until browned and tender. Season with salt + pepper and set aside.
- When farro is done, add farro, mushrooms, seeds, and dressing to the mixing bowl with the kale. Toss everything to combine well, adjusting seasonings to taste.
- Serve salad and top with avocado chunks and some freshly cracked black pepper. Enjoy!
Notes
- Try using a different whole grain in place of farro. Something like quinoa or brown or wild rice would work well!
- Try adding some extra veggies to this salad – it would taste great with sautéed broccoli or asparagus!
- hard boiled eggs
- crispy tofu
- fried tempeh
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know by leaving a recipe rating below, or by tagging @walderwellness on Instagram. I love seeing your beautiful creations!
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14 Comments on “Warm Mushroom Salad With Miso Dressing (Vegan)”
Holy Hell. This was the YUMMIEST. I LOVE LOVE WARM SALSDS in the winter. The dressing is so flavorful. I served as a side with salmon and even treated my salmon to the dressing as well!! Thank you for your wonderful recipes with all the nutritional information. ❤️❤️
Hi Maria!
Ah thank you so much for the kind comment!! I so appreciate it. Aren’t warm, hearty salads in the winter the best?! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and LOVED that you added some extra dressing to your salmon – that sounds so yummy!! Can’t wait to hear what you make next 🙂 <3
Amazing recipe! The dressing is awesome! I substituted quinoa for the farro and added marinated miso chicken and roasted broccoli. This was super easy, very hearty and so delicious!
Hi Sascha! Thank you so much for sharing your experience – it’s so appreciated!! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this salad. I LOVE that you added miso chicken and roasted broccoli to this – that sounds like such a delicious pairing :).
The dressing is sublime and elevates this salad to something special. Will make this again and will experiment by adding other vegetables.
Hi Orla! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, and the dressing in particular! I feel like you could pair the dressing with lots of other dishes too – one of my readers shared they even topped their salmon with it :). Thanks so much for sharing your experience – it’s so appreciated!
So delicious! I made this with buckwheat since I’ve recently fallen in love with buckwheat in an artisan bread I make. No avocado on hand, I added sliced pears which are lovely with this savory dressing! I love a versatile recipe like this.
Hi Linda!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience as well as all the substitutions you made! Using buckwheat sounds perfect, and that extra sweetness from pears – YUM. I need to try that myself! So happy to hear you enjoyed this one 🙂
Another simple, super healthful and delicious recipe from WalderWellness!
Thank you so much, Glenn! So happy to hear you enjoyed this one!! Much appreciated 🙂
I absolutely love this!
Thank you so much Claire!! So happy to hear that 🙂
Hello Carrie!
I hope you are doing well!🙂
I made this warm mushroom salad with miso dressing for lunch today and it was extremely, positively, amazingly, extraordinary! 5 stars does not give this recipe the credit it deserves! How about 100 stars?!!! 🤗 We opted to roast some wild, Alaskan salmon the way you have previously shared on some of your salmon recipes with olive oil, salt, and pepper on 400 degrees F for 12 minutes. The salmon turns out perfect every single time roasted this way! I could definitely see people eating the salad without animal- based protein or even additional vegan protein because with the lacinato -tuscan kale, nutty farro, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, and avocado, this salad is incredibly hearty and filling as it is. Next time, I will serve the roasted salmon with this miso dressing separated from the warm mushroom salad and miso dressing because the salad is so perfect, I do not want anything else changing the original flavor!
The dressing was the best umami flavor I have ever tried! It was not too strong and I love how the proportion of ground garlic powder was more than the proportion of ground ginger. The end result was a delightful, mild, balanced, umami flavor that enhanced all of the other ingredients. Everything you chose for this recipe from the type of seeds, type of nutty grain, type of veggies, and creamy avocado was absolutely perfect. Meaty, hearty, earthy, comforting, and addictingly delicious! This was a phenomenal- tasting and very healthy recipe that we look forward to eating again! 🙂
Hi Jordanna!! I hope you are doing well too :). Thank you so much for this thorough and lovely review! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, and the dressing in particular!! You can definitely try adding the dressing to other salads or proteins as you mentioned (love the idea of having it with salmon). Now you make me want to make this recipe again ahah 🙂