Pickled shallot, candied pecan green salad with maple-porcini dressing

This salad could be a good wintertime salad, but the pickled shallot and maple dressing works well as a contrast to summer's grilled fare. Note that you'll want to start this recipe a bit in advance, so maybe pull it out on a weekend instead of a weeknight.

Greens with birch-mushroom dressing, fried pecans and pickled shallots
Adapted from "The New Midwestern Table" by Amy Thielen

Ingredients
2 small shallots, thinly sliced horizontally
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
¾ teaspoon salt, divided
½ teaspoon pepper, divided
2 cups boiling water
Small handful dried mushrooms such as porcini
1 tablespoon butter, plus a touch more
¼ cup pecans

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons maple syrup (or the original held out the possibility of the more exotic birch)

8 ounces mixed salad greens

½ cup shaved pecorino cheese

Method

Combine ¼ cup sugar with lime juice, shallots, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Let stand for at least 30 minutes.

Pour boiling water over mushrooms in a small bowl. Let cool, then squeeze dry and chop finely.

Lightly butter a small plate. In a small saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon sugar until it becomes liquid and browns. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter and the pecans and toss to coat. Remove from heat and pour caramelized pecans out onto the buttered plate to cool.

In a small sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook briefly until it sizzles. Add in sherry. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar, lemon juice, maple syrup, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mix in remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Strain shallots. In a large serving bowl, toss mixed greens with maple-mushroom dressing, shallots, pecans and pecorino.

Rating: Tangy-sweet with the pickled shallots tart against the candied pecans. (We only had chopped pecans on hand, which worked, but I suspect whole pecans would be better.) Certainly repeatable.