Mushroom Salad

I find that people fall into two camps on the subject of mushrooms- LOVE!, or, EW FUNGUS GET IT AWAY DON'T LET ANY OF MY FOOD TOUCH IT EWWWW!!! Since the title of this post is (imaginatively) "Mushroom Salad", I'm pretty sure you know where I stand. So... those of you in camp 2 might want to avert your eyes.

(Ahhhh!!! Fungus!!)

So, the mushroom salad. I have to admit, I kind of love The Melting Pot restaurant- yes, it's a little hokey and to quote my ex-boyfriend, "You have to cook your OWN FOOD!", but I happen to love cheese a lot, almost as much as I love dipping assorted items into cheese. Anyway- the Melting Pot does have (a few) non-fondue items on the menu, and one that I've been ordering for probably more than a decade now on my occasional visits is the mushroom salad: basically a huge plate of raw, thinly sliced white mushrooms covered with a lemony-Parmesan dressing. That's it, and yet I never thought about making it for myself.

And then this past Saturday morning, fate and the Food Network intervened. I was enjoying not having much to do, with my usual Giada/Ina lineup in the background on the tv. Then one of Giada's recipes caught my attention- mushroom salad, simply dressed with a lemon dressing and Parmesan... that sounded familiar! I added mushrooms and lemons to my list and was off to Whole Foods.

So... thankfully I decided to buy two containers of mushrooms, because I "tested" this salad for my lunch and managed to polish off an entire one by myself. It's really that good (if you're the mushroom type, of course), and take approximately thirty seconds to prepare- put sliced mushrooms in a bowl; whisk lemon juice with olive oil; top with the dressing, parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. The mushrooms soak in the tangy dressing, and their flavor combines beautifully with the parsley and cheese. It's absurdly simple, but all of the components work together to produce something with a much more complicated taste.

Seriously- if you're in the "love mushrooms" camp like me, you will be SO happy to have this up your sleeve.

Ingredients

• 12 oz. large button mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned and thinly sliced
• Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, 2 Tablespoons
  
• Extra-virgin olive oil, 2 Tablespoons
  
• Fresh lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  

Method

In a medium salad bowl, mix together the mushrooms and parsley. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and lemon juice until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Add the oil mixture to the salad bowl and toss until all the ingredients are coated. Add the Parmesan cheese and serve.