Endive, Mushroom & Shaved Parmesan Salad with Lemon & Olive Oil

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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Sometimes salads full of little bits of a thousand things are fun & satisfying.  Things like candied nuts & pomegranate seeds & bits of cheese & croutons or fruity things.  But sometimes minimalist salads are fun, too.  My two favorite salads of all time are of the latter variety.   The first is one I put on top of pizzas all the time – a simple arugula & shaved Parmesan salad.

The other is this salad I present today.  They served it at what used to be my favorite Italian place in Los Angeles – Chianti.  It was a dark room with booths & opera playing & the food was simple & lovely.  I always got this salad.

There are really just three ingredients & they are all equally important.  If you do not like mushrooms – this salad ain’t gonna work.  If the light bitterness of the endive bugs you – ditto.  And if a salad made of about 1/3 shaved Parmesan is not on your diet – skip this guy.  But if you like those three things – this will be pure joy for you.  Light & clean & simple & so good with a crisp glass of white wine!

Endive, Mushroom & Shaved Parmesan Salad with Lemon & Olive Oil

(salad for one)

INGREDIENTS

5 large mushrooms – sliced

2 heads endive – sliced

Parmesan – shaved (or vegan alternative)

Olive oil

Lemon juice

S&P

DIRECTIONS

Toss the mushrooms in a little olive oil & lemon juice & some salt.  Go light but just add enough to get some on all the mushroom slices.  These can sit for a while or be used immediately.  Letting them sit a bit is good, though, because the mushrooms absorb the flavors, soften a bit & take on a richer color.

Make a dressing with about 1/4 cup olive oil & the juice of 1/2 a lemon & some S&P.  Taste & adjust the flavors to your palate.

Then simply toss the endive with the a boat load of shaved Parmesan & the mushrooms.  Drizzle with the dressing & eat this fucker up!

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Toasted Pistachios, Dried Cranberries & Pomegranate Seeds

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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I know I say that a great many of my recipes are born simply of what I have handy and it is true.  It is true even when I say that all I had around was a bag of Brussels sprouts and an aging pomegranate.  And pistachios.  And when I thought to make a salad of them, I wished I had some dried cranberries to add to it.  I don’t typically go for dried fruit in anything but dried cranberries just sounded so right for this.  I dug deep in my crisper drawers looking for some other inspiration & found an unopened but very old & gross bag of raisins & while I wondered why I ever even bought a bag of raisins because, you know, ew – raisins – I spotted a bag of something from a bulk bin in the corner of the drawer.   Closer inspection revealed it to be a small bag of dried cranberries!  WTF?  Why did I have dried cranberries?  Quickly, I wished for a series regular gig on what would turn out to be a long running & iconic HBO series and waited for a few seconds for my life to change.  Nothing.  A few minutes later I was still me, still unemployed & still holding the bag.  Of dried cranberries. Fuck.  I hate when I waste the wishes that will be granted on things like a small quantity of dried cranberries.  I felt like Peter Griffin on Family Guy when, confronted by a real, live genie, wishes for his own personal theme music & not to have bones.

So, yeah.  Career still on hold but that’s a go on the salad!

Salads aren’t really recipes, are they?  I made this guy for myself & I used about 8-10 medium-sized Brussels sprouts & ate the entire salad – even though it was probably enough for two.  So – anyway – I will give you rough estimates of what I used but you can add or subtract ingredients & adjust quantities to suit your own taste.  If there is wiggle room in making anything – it is salad – so go for it.

I made a simple dressing of lemon & olive oil & then decided I wanted something a bit creamier – so I added a bit of Greek yogurt.  You can skip that or, if you are vegan, add a bit of vegan mayonnaise.   Or use another of your favorite dressings.  I ain’t judging.

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Toasted Pistachios, Dried Cranberries & Pomegranate Seeds

Serves two

INGREDIENTS

10 medium-sized Brussels sprouts

Handful of pistachios

Handful of dried cranberries

Handful of pomegranate seeds

For the dressing

1/3 cup Greek yogurt (or vegan mayonnaise)  – optional

2 TBS lemon juice (or nice wine vinegar)

1 TBS olive oil

S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS

Whisk the dressing ingredients together & season with S&P.  Taste & adjust the flavors.  Some like lemon more than others.  Some like more salt.  Suit yourself.

Toast the pistachios in a dry pan for 2-3 minutes, until aromatic & beginning to change color.  Stir the whole time & take care not to burn them.  Set aside.

Trim the hard ends off the Brussels sprouts & shred with the blade of your food processor or cut thin by hand.  Be sure to break up any of the white cores that remain – even cutting them by hand if your food processor let them slip by.

Now, just toss all that shit together (go easy on the dressing) & eat both servings yourself.  FTW.

Rosemary & Crushed Red Pepper Infused Olive Oil

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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A recipe?  Not REALLY but I am so pleased with how pretty this is – I am posting it.

Simply stick some clean rosemary sprigs & a TBS (or more or less) or crushed red pepper in a capped or corked bottle & let it sit for a week.  For a stronger flavor (I recommend this step) – muddle the rosemary into the oil a bit in a measuring cup & then jar it.  Apparently, if you refrigerate it – it gets cloudy but returning it to room temperature cures the cloudiness.  I have not refrigerated mine.  Look how pretty!

Oh!  And now all my posts have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

Arugula Salad with Shaved Parmesan & Lemon

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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Say – want a nice, light salad to go with that chowdah?  I got just the thing!  I happen to love arugula.  It is my favorite green – all peppery & spicy.  I also like a nice Parmesan and who doesn’t like lemon?  This salad couldn’t be easier.  Not even any chopping required.  For ingredients plus S&P.  Simplicity defined.

Arugula Salad with Shaved Parmesan & Lemon

Fresh arugula

A wedge or block of high quality Parmesan or some store-bought shaved Parmesan (not grated)

Lemon

Olive oil

S&P

DIRECTIONS

In a salad dressing bottle – combine olive oil & lemon juice.  I like a ratio of about 2 parts oil to one part lemon.  You might like more – or even less – lemon.  Add salt & pepper to taste.  Put arugula on plates.  Drizzle with the dressing.  Use a veggie peeler to shave fresh Parmesan – and a good quantity of it – over the greens.  Serve with more fresh ground pepper.  With lots of wine.  LOTS.  You earned it.