Question regarding warm salad with balsamic

[legend_018]

I'm looking to do the following:

I have a small bowl of cucumber, red onions, tomatoes and cut up red pepper.

I'd like to make some kind of side to go with meatloaf and saffron rice tonight. I was thinking of marinating it in italian dressing OR some kind of a balsamic vinegar + ? marinade.

I'm thinking about warming it all up on the stove in a pan of some oil when I'm getting ready to serve. I would like it to be a warm dish.

I don't want to get too fancy. Should I start marinading them now?

Note* I also have mushrooms so not sure if I can incorporate those into the marinade. Mushrooms usually take a good 10/15 minutes to cook and that other stuff would just need to be heated up a little. Update...I guess I could cook the mushrooms in some butter and when there cooked, add the salad stuff and heat up.

Can someone help me put my thoughts together?

 

[jennyema]

I'm not sure why you would heat up a salad with those ingredients. IMO the best part about those particular ingredients are their livliness and crunch, which will be lost if they are heated up. Esp. cucumbers.

I might make a dressing with some of the tomato (one), some fresh garlic, balsamic vinegar, evoo, salt and pepper, and a dab of dijon mustard. Whirl up everything but the oil in a food processor. Taste, reseason if nec. Then stream in oil to emulsify.

I'd cut the veggies into more or less uniform pieces and let them marinate in the dressing at room temp for an hour or 2. Then I'd drain (reserve the dressing in case you want more) and chill the salad for an hour.

I'd add the mushrooms to the rice or to the meatloaf.

 

[VeraBlue]

If you like it, do it...

Personally, I'd sautee the onions and peppers after marinating them. I'd keep the tomatoes and cucumbers raw and cool. I'd put a small bed of lettuce down, then the warm ingredients, topped with the cool ingredients. I'd top all of it with a small crumble of either bleu, feta or goat cheese.

 

[Charleysaunt]

Those ingredients would do well with a sweet/sour vinaigrette or even a mayonnaise dressing. I do both. They have no future as a warm salad.

 

[legend_018]

after all that, I just ended up having a basic cold salad to go with the meatloaf and saffron rice I made.