Edible Parmesan Salad Bowls!

OK - these are just simply gorgeous, easy to do and most impressive. Of course when trying anything unusual like this, you might worry that it won't work out. Well, keep practicing and eventually it will look like a bowl. It took me a couple of tries...I made some of them too big so they looked a little floppy. But I fixed that and broke off the uneven pieces and ate them! Also, if it looks more like a plate than a bowl - who cares! Just put the salad in the bowl. Now here is the secret to making a successful Parmesan Bowl. Cut individual squares of parchment paper to put the cheese on. That way when you take them out of the oven, you only have to pick up the parchment paper with the cheese on it and lay it over an inverted bowl. Easy removal. That was my mistake. I used a spatella to remove the cheese and it bunched up (though it was still amazing). Serve these salad bowls when you have people over tonight for dinner - they will think you are amazing!

1. grate about 1 1/3 cups of fresh Parmesan (not the powdery canned cheese).

2. cut up four parchment paper squares and put onto a cookie sheet

3. Put 1/3 of a cup of grated Parmesan on each parchment paper square and make into a nice even circle (if you need to grate more cheese then do).

4. Put into a 325 degree oven and let it just melt (about 2-3 minutes - maybe even longer if need be...don't worry)

5. When it's a nicely melted consistency, pull the cookie sheetout of the oven and lift one of the parchment paper squares up and lay the cheese side over an inverted 5inch bowl or rounded coffee cup which I think might be better. Repeat the process with three more bowls/coffee cups and with a paper towel, blot the excess oil and shape the bowls with your hand.

6. Let cool for five minutes or so take a deep breath and gently remove each Parmesan salad bowl from it's mold,put onto invididual plates and fill with your favourite salad. There you go, easy, takes about 10-15 minutes total, and you'll be a star! My whole family loved them and they said they "looked fancy!"