Warm Mushroom and Arugula Salad

The only ingredients I actually had for this salad from Serious Eats were mushrooms and arugula – which I guess is important since they’re both in the title, but most of the rest of them were all mild substitutions:
– Pine nuts and walnuts instead of hazelnuts
– A mix of apple cider vinegar and white wine instead of sherry vinegar
– Shallots (ok, I had these too)
– And I had butter
– And olive oil
– And herbs – sort of. I have my pitiful basil plant, and some parsley my friend brought over
– Dried thyme instead of fresh
– Parmesan instead of pecorino
It worked! Here’s what you do:

– Toast the nuts
– Mix together the shallots, vinegar/wine, salt, and olive oil
– Sauté the mushrooms in butter until they’re soft, then add in the shallot mixture (actually I think you’re supposed to just add in more shallots, but we added in the mixture and that worked)
– Serve it on a bed of greens and herbs
– Top with nuts, cheese, salt, and pepper

My friend who actually knows how to talk about food was over and she said many things, including:
– The mushrooms taste like you’re eating a really good pizza, without the pizza
– This would be an excellent first course because it’s good, but not overwhelming. It would especially be good with a roast beef or something like that
– It could have benefitted from a sharper herb (she didn’t give a suggestion), or probably a sharper cheese (like maybe their original choice, although I thought the Parmesan worked – especially with the pine nuts, but I could see what she meant)