You know how a sandwich or a salad tastes better when someone else makes it? The reason is a combination of your visual perception along with a psychological response to the exposure of the ingredients. If you’re the one making the salad, your mind is thinking about how the finished dish will taste, so in the end, the resulting pleasure isn’t as strong as if someone else prepares and presents you with the finished dish.
Either way, this salad still tastes as delicious as my mind tells me it will, whether I make it or not. The warm roasted mushrooms and asparagus add a deep, earthy layer to the salad, and the dressing has just the right level of acidity to give your taste buds a bright pop of flavor.
And just a suggestion, go the extra step and buy a nice aged Parmesan and grate it yourself for this dish. The inherent nuttiness and buttery flavor of an aged Parmesan works well here.
Ingredients:
6 ounces mixed baby greens, washed
1 pound fresh asparagus washed and trimmed
1 pound cleaned Portobello and Shitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 shallot, finely minced
3 tablespoon kosher salt
3 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
Freshly grated aged Parmesan
Directions:
1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2) Arrange the asparagus and mushrooms on the sheet and drizzle a 1/4 cup of the olive oil over them. Season the vegetables with 2 tablespoons each of the salt and pepper.
3) Place the tray in the oven and roast the vegetables 8-10 minutes until the asparagus is crisp-tender and the mushrooms are golden brown.
4) Meanwhile, make the dressing by combining the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, remaining tablespoon each of the salt and pepper, vinegar, shallot, mustard, and honey.
5) To serve the dish, dress the greens with the dressing and distribute them evenly among dinner plates. Arrange the asparagus and mushrooms on top of the greens and sprinkle freshly grated aged Parmesan on top.
