Salad recipes

Crab and portabella melt: grilled mushroom caps topped with tomato, Old Bay crab salad, and melted cheddar. A bread-free open-face that eats like a proper sandwich.

Served this with pasta or caesar salad, and you can use scallions too, anyway it is very tasty.

Fresh green beans, mushrooms, zucchini, and tomato wedges simmered in a tangy Worcestershire-vinegar sauce with oregano. Serve hot as a side or chilled as a vegetable salad.

Fish fillets are cooked on a bed of mushroom-bread stuffing in this dish. Just add a salad or vegetable, and dinner is served.

This recipe is definitely worth the effort for the holidays and special company. Broiled stuffed tomatoes and a fresh green salad are perfect accompaniments with this meat dish.

A no-cook marinated string bean salad with mushrooms, cucumber, cauliflower, and pimentos in a tangy champagne vinegar dressing. Make ahead, fat-free, perfect for picnics and potlucks.

Sea vegetables ran be added to soups or salads, cooked alone or with other vegetables, and even brewed into teas. Their versatility in the kitchen is as wide as the ocean. When dried, the succulence and qualify of sea vegetables is not as apparent as when fresh, so it is important to choose a brand you can trust.

There is a bit of confusion about these two plants. For some reason,the fennel plant, which resembles celery with fern like tops, has been called sweet anise in produce markets. The true anise is cultivated only for its seeds. So what you see labelled "sweet anise" in your market is probably fennel, but no matter what you call it, this is a highly interesting vegetable. Every part of this aromatic plant has a taste and aroma similar to licorice. The stems are eaten like celery,uncook, or cooked and served as a vegetable (heavenly with apples in waldorf salad) available from September to May.

Hearty vegetarian chili with kidney beans, mushrooms, and carrots, deepened with cocoa powder, cinnamon, and mustard seeds. Thick, smoky, and satisfying without any meat.

Ground chicken pizza on a biscuit dough crust with mushrooms, bell peppers, and a three-cheese blend of mozzarella, cheddar, and Parmesan. A lighter take on homemade pizza using toaster oven-friendly portions.

Eggplant and tomato casserole baked under a parmesan crust, loaded with mushrooms, peppers, garlic, and a briny hit of capers. A rustic Mediterranean vegetable bake that works as a main or a hearty side.