Mushrooms are a popular and versatile vegetable with numerous health benefits. They’re a great source of dietary fiber as well as many of the B vitamins, which can help support good energy levels.

Restaurant owner Laura Maioglio says that this salad, traditionally of Piemonte, Italy, is made with wild porcini mushrooms and white truffles. If you can’t obtain fresh porcini, cultivated cremini mushrooms still give you a delicious salad. During truffle season at Barbetta, the salad is served with white truffles hunted by the restaurant’s own truffle hounds! Drizzled on top of the mushrooms is the quite luxurious porcini olive oil in which porcini mushrooms steep their flavor into the oil as they sit together. Making your own olive oil can save you money because it costs a bundle in the specialty food stores!

Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus several days for steeping the olive oil
Yield: 4 servings

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 quart extra-virgin olive oil
10 ounces fresh porcini mushrooms
1 bunch Lolla Rossa lettuce (or substitute red
leaf lettuce)
1 bunch oak leaf lettuce
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Step 1
Prepare your own porcini olive oil by steeping the dried porcini mushrooms in the olive oil. Let stand a few days for the oil to acquire the flavor of the mushrooms. Save the oil you don’t need in this recipe for future use to give any number of dishes a fabulous taste.

Step 2
Put 8 mushrooms aside and slice the remaining mushrooms very thin.

Step 3
On 4 medium-size plates, place a few leaves of Lolla Rossa over a few oak leaf lettuce leaves. Place 1 whole mushroom on either side of the lettuce leaves to look as if the mushrooms are growing between the lettuce leaves. Place the sliced mushrooms in the remaining space on the plate.

Step 4
Drizzle the porcini olive oil and lemon juice over the mushrooms and lettuce, and salt and pepper to taste.

Tip: Drizzle your extra porcini olive oil on steamed or roasted veggies, add a touch of it to risotto during the final stages of cooking, or use it to give a punch of flavor to a marinade.

Per serving (with 2 tablespoons porcini olive oil): Kcalories 286 (From Fat 248); Fat 28g (Saturated 4g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 175mg; Carbohydrate 9g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 4g.
Exchanges: 3 vegetable, 3 fat

Panzanella

“Panzanella” is a traditional Italian bread salad. This dish offers all the classic Mediterranean ingredients — and is a light and fresh dish perfect on a summer day. Use vine-ripened tomatoes from your local farmers market or, better yet, grow them in your own vegetable garden. Either way, this salad offers great nutrition, from the antioxidant-rich tomatoes to the olive oil’s heart-healthy monounsaturated fats.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Dressing:
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 large basil leaves
1 cup olive oil
1.4 teaspoon pepper

Salad:
2 cups chopped tomatoes (1-inch cubes)
2 cups croutons
1.2 cup thinly sliced red onion
12 large basil leaves, chopped
1.2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons capers (optional)
8 to 12 tablespoons dressing
1 head romaine heart, sliced thinly

Dressing:
Step 1
To make the dressing, place the garlic, Dijon mustard, capers, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, and basil leaves in a blender.

Step 2
While the blender is running, drizzle the oil in a slow steady stream. Season with pepper and reserve. The dressing keeps for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

Step 3
In a large mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, croutons, red onion, basil, feta cheese, and capers, if desired. Toss with 4 tablespoons dressing and taste. Add more dressing if necessary, up to 6 tablespoons.

Step 4
Arrange the romaine lettuce on the bottom of a large platter. Top with tossed panzanella and serve.

Per serving (with 2 tablespoons dressing): Kcalories 349 (From Fat 278); Fat 31g (Saturated 6g); Cholesterol 11mg; Sodium 354mg; Carbohydrate 15g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 5g.
Exchanges: 2 vegetable, 1.2 starch, 1 medium-fat meat, 4 fat

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