A hearty kale and spinach salad gets tossed with a maple-mustard dressing, topped with bacon and hard-boiled eggs and served alongside crab-stuffed mushrooms.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup grainy Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, grated or pasted
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 pound meaty bacon
- 12 cups medium-leaf spinach and flat-leaf kale, stemmed and coarsely chopped, combined (2 pounds)
- 1 medium red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
- 6 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
- 1 cup smoked almonds, chopped
- 1 cup cornichons, drained and chopped
- 24 large white stuffing mushrooms (milder in taste) or crimini mushrooms (meatier in taste), stemmed and wiped clean
- Cooking spray
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pound crab claw, lump or King leg meat, picked over for shells and pulled or shredded with a fork
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
- 1/4 cup celery tops/leaves, finely chopped
- One 4-ounce jar chopped pimientos, drained
- 3 scallions, whites and greens finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco, or other hot sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire, 5-6 drops
- 1 cup panko
- 3 tablespoons minced flat parsley
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 ½ cups shredded or grated Gruyere cheese
Yield
Preparation
For the dressing, combine all ingredients in Mason jar, shake well, and adjust salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Arrange bacon on slotted pan and bake to extra-crisp, about 18-20 minutes. Chop bacon into 1½ inch pieces, bite-sized. Raise heat to 425˚F.
For the mushrooms, spray the caps on both sides with cooking spray and roast cap-side up on parchment-lined baking sheet 10-12 minutes. Remove, cool, flip and season with salt and pepper. Combine crab with Old Bay, thyme, Dijon, garlic, celery leaves, pimientos, scallions, Tabasco and Worcestershire. Fill caps and mound them up. Mix panko with minced flat parsley and paprika. Top the stuffing with panko mixture, then Gruyere; bake about 18 minutes to deeply golden and cheese is melted.
When you are ready to serve, dress the spinach and kale in large bowl and serve from it or arrange the greens on very large cutting board. Arrange the toppings: bacon, red onion, hard-boiled eggs, almonds and cornichons. Serve with stuffed mushrooms alongside.
