The Only Early Summer Salad you Need

I'm in another show. YAY!

Which means I cook dinner twice a week: Sundays after rehearsal and Mondays which I have off. My husband is a very patient man.

Sunday nights I get home close to 8, so unless we're having a Barcelona night and eating at 11--which is great but on a Sunday after a long week not so much---I keep it simple. Easy to do here in SoCal where the farmers markets are so crazy bountiful in summer (ok all year) that throwing a few ingredients on a plate and having it taste amazing is eeeeasy.

On Saturday the mushroom guy had fresh porcinis. I'm used to cooking with dried, so I asked him what he'd do with a fresh porcini and voila: the easiest most delicious delectable summer salad I could dream of. How much of all these ingredients is up to you---go heavy on what you love, go light where you want. You really can't go wrong. And I say splurge on the really good parmesan and use your best olive oil--with ingredients this simple you'll taste the difference.

Fresh Porcini Salad with Arugula and Parmesan

plenty of good arugula or other peppery green

fresh porcini mushroom, very thinly sliced

Parmesan cheese, shaved into thin slices

lemon

olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

After washing and drying greens, toss with a little lemon juice and a little olive oil. Plate the greens and top with shaved Parmesan and sliced porcinis. Drizzle a little more olive oil; season with a tiny bit of salt and pepper. You're done.

I served this first then we had a barley/lentil pilaf that cooked in one pot while we ate this. Sky swooned. Literally. And I didn't think guys could swoon.