Salad
Description
The salad is quick and easy to prepare. If you make the salad ahead of time, once you've finished with the cheese layer, be sure to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Covering it with plastic wrap is essential; otherwise, the cheese will dry out and spoil the final taste of the dish. I recommend decorating the salad (creating the birch tree design) on the day you plan to serve it. I hope you enjoy my recipe. The salad is ready to serve.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Choose larger mushrooms, as they will shrink during frying, and in my opinion, they feel better in the salad this way. Slice them into pieces like these.
- 2
Step 2
Heat a skillet with oil. Do not add all the mushrooms at once, otherwise they will release liquid and end up boiling. That's why I place them in a single layer, as shown in the photo, and fry until golden. Then I remove them from the skillet and add the next batch. During frying, I lightly salt the mushrooms. Important: do not overcook the mushrooms; they should remain juicy.
- 3
Step 3
This is how the mushrooms should look after frying. I separately set aside 12 pieces (slices), the most beautiful ones. Hot mushrooms shouldn't go into the salad, so let's leave them aside for now to cool down.
- 4
Step 4
I cut the boiled chicken breast into cubes and immediately place it as the first layer on the plate from which I will serve the salad.
- 5
Step 5
I spread mayonnaise on it. You can initially add a couple of teaspoons of mustard to the mayonnaise, but that's up to you. I add a little pepper.
- 6
Step 6
Now add the sautéed mushrooms. Don't forget to season each salad layer with salt.
- 7
Step 7
Slice the olives into elongated pieces (about 6 pieces each). Next, cut the cucumbers into cubes. I recommend not making them too small.
- 8
Step 8
Mix olives with cucumbers and place them as the next layer on the plate. You can also add capers or olives stuffed with capers or lemon.
- 9
Step 9
Now place the chopped green onion.
- 10
Step 10
Grate the eggs on a fine grater (this is important!) and place them as the next layer. Top with mayonnaise.
- 11
Step 11
Next, grate the cheese on a fine grater (this is also important!) and sprinkle it over the salad.
- 12
Step 12
For decoration, use mayonnaise (it's better to squeeze it from a pastry or even a regular plastic bag), 12 reserved mushroom caps, fresh herbs (a bunch of parsley), green onions, and a few black olives. Finely chop the green onions (from the base to the tips). Cut the olives first in half, then slice each half into thin strips (each half yields about four strips).
- 13
Step 13
With mayonnaise, draw the trunk and branches of a birch tree. Place olive slices onto the "trunk."
- 14
Step 14
To make the onion "crown" on the birch hold well, you can first place dots of mayonnaise and then arrange the chopped onion on top.
- 15
Step 15
Under the birch tree, we can also place mayonnaise dots or draw zigzags with mayonnaise. This is also necessary so that the greens stay in place well. Separate the parsley leaves. Carefully arrange the mushroom slices and parsley under the tree. I tuck the mushrooms between the parsley leaves. That's it.