This mushroom spinach salad has a bit of a story behind it. When I first got married, I decided to make it for a barbecue at my auntie’s house. I rang her up beforehand and asked if I needed to take the stems off the spinach. She said yes — so I spent a good two hours carefully pulling the stems off every single baby spinach leaf. When I turned up to the barbecue, she took one look and asked why on earth I’d done that. Turns out she thought I meant normal spinach, not baby spinach, which obviously doesn’t need any of that. I still laugh about it now, and every time I make this salad, I think of her.
This mushroom spinach salad is one of the simplest things I make, and that’s exactly why I love it. It’s just baby spinach, sliced mushroom and red onion, tossed with a light lemon and olive oil dressing and finished with a scatter of sumac. We make it all the time at barbecues, because it comes together in minutes and it never feels heavy next to everything else on the table. Best of all, you don’t even need to think about prepping it the day before — as long as your mushrooms are sliced and your spinach is ready to go, you can have a big bowl done in under fifteen minutes, seriously, which makes it perfect for when you’ve got a gathering or you’re entertaining. Just make sure you don’t take the stems off each leaf.
If you like salads with a bit of tang, this one sits nicely alongside my potato and sumac salad or my sumac herb salad — sumac turns up a lot in my kitchen, and for good reason.
Step 1. Prepare the Vegetables
Prep your ingredients — cut the mushroom and slice the red onion, then place them in a large bowl with the baby spinach.
Step 2. Make the Dressing
In a small jar or bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Keep this separate from the sumac for now.
Step 3. Dress and Finish
Pour the dressing over the salad, then add the sumac and toss gently to combine.
A Few Things You'll Want to Know
Why don't you mix the sumac into the dressing?
I like to keep it separate and add it in at the end rather than mixing it into the jar of dressing. Once sumac goes into a jar of dressing, it tends to sink and stick to the bottom, and I end up losing half of it — this way, every bit of it makes it into the salad.
Do you wash your baby spinach?
I do — I wash all my greens and dry them well before using them. A salad spinner is great for this, and I use mine all the time for loose salads and lettuce. Just make sure it's properly dried, because wet spinach will water down the salad. If you'd rather skip the washing step, look for organic baby spinach instead.
Do I need to add the sumac?
I really would — it makes this salad. That little tangy, lemony edge is exactly what it needs.
What size should I slice the mushrooms and onion?
A little thicker than you might expect — just under half a centimetre. Too thin and they lose their bite once dressed.
What is sumac?
Sumac is a tangy, deep red spice made from dried, ground sumac berries — it's a staple in Lebanese cooking, and it's what gives this salad its little sour edge instead of using extra lemon.
Is this a traditional salad?
No, it's not a traditional one. It's a salad our parents made up along the way, but sumac is definitely our ingredient.
Can I prep this a day or two before?
No, I wouldn't. You can prep it earlier in the day for the evening, but not much further ahead than that — once the mushroom is cut, it starts to soften, and you really want it to stay hard with a bit of crunch to it.
Do you wash the mushrooms?
I don't actually wash them — mushrooms aren't really meant to be washed. I just wipe them over with a damp paper towel instead.
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