What’s better than serving a supremely delicious meal with about 15 minutes of effort? Between basketball tournaments, ice cream socials, sleepovers, potty training, and yoga, I slipped over to Trader Joe’s in search of inspiration. Sara had been raving about their fabulous French style flat-bread tarts with mushrooms, Emmental and Parmesan cheese, and I wanted to surprise Jack with a quick and tasty grown-up dinner on the fly. I hurled a few frozen tarts into the cart and headed home. TJ’s tart, much like a thin-crusted pizza, turned out to be great on its own, but I found that a little truffle salt really gives it that “Je ne sais quoi.” Years ago Michael Chiarello of www.napastyle.com gave us this flavorful salt as a gift for being guests on his TV show, and it’s been a staple for us ever since. Truffle salt adds zing to eggs, pasta, salad and risotto – or just about anything that goes well with mushrooms. Your family and friends may well hallucinate in culinary ecstasy after one bite of this easy dish. Jack was delighted and, truth be told, I barely had to lift a finger!
- 1 or 2 frozen Tartes d’Champignons from Trader Joes (depending on how hungry you are)
- juice of 1/2 lemon (1 tablespoon)
- pinch of sea salt (we like the Himalayan pink sea salt)
- drizzle of agave nectar, or pinch of sugar
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons really good olive oil (Stonehouse Kitchen is a current fave)
- 2 big handfuls arugula, watercress or your favorite mix of greens
- pinch of truffle salt (optional)
- shavings of Parmesan Reggianno for garnish (optional)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cook the tarts according to package instructions. While they are cooking, put the lemon juice in a bowl. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of agave nectar or pinch of sugar. Whisk in the olive oil. (You can also place vinaigrette ingredients in a jar and shake just before assembling the salad.) Place the greens in a medium size bowl and season them with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss lightly. Sprinkle the cooked mushroom tarte with truffle salt and freshly ground pepper. Cut into wedges and serve with the arugula salad. Garnish the salad with shavings of Parm cheese if you like.
Note: If you want to spruce the salad a bit, feel free to add some sliced red onion or toasted hazelnuts. If you have access to Meyer lemons, you could also make a Meyer lemon vinaigrette. Just use a little less oil as Meyer lemons are not as sour as regular lemons.
Serves 2
Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford are the authors of the best-selling Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook, and many more.
Trader Joe’s Tarte D’Champignon with Lemony Arugula Salad
What’s better than serving a supremely delicious meal with about 15 minutes of effort? Between basketball tournaments, ice cream socials, sleepovers, potty training, and yoga, I slipped over to Trader Joe’s in search of inspiration. Sara had been raving about their fabulous French style flat-bread tarts with mushrooms, Emmental and Parmesan cheese, and I wanted to surprise Jack with a quick and tasty grown-up dinner on the fly. I hurled a few frozen tarts into the cart and headed home. TJ’s tart, much like a thin-crusted pizza, turned out to be great on its own, but I found that a little truffle salt really gives it that “Je ne sais quoi.” Years ago Michael Chiarello of www.napastyle.com gave us this flavorful salt as a gift for being guests on his TV show, and it’s been a staple for us ever since. Truffle salt adds zing to eggs, pasta, salad and risotto – or just about anything that goes well with mushrooms. Your family and friends may well hallucinate in culinary ecstasy after one bite of this easy dish. Jack was delighted and, truth be told, I barely had to lift a finger!
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cook the tarts according to package instructions. While they are cooking, put the lemon juice in a bowl. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of agave nectar or pinch of sugar. Whisk in the olive oil. (You can also place vinaigrette ingredients in a jar and shake just before assembling the salad.) Place the greens in a medium size bowl and season them with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss lightly. Sprinkle the cooked mushroom tarte with truffle salt and freshly ground pepper. Cut into wedges and serve with the arugula salad. Garnish the salad with shavings of Parm cheese if you like.
Note: If you want to spruce the salad a bit, feel free to add some sliced red onion or toasted hazelnuts. If you have access to Meyer lemons, you could also make a Meyer lemon vinaigrette. Just use a little less oil as Meyer lemons are not as sour as regular lemons.
Serves 2