"Arugula. It's a Ve- ge - ta- ble" - it's a famous quote from Steve Martin in the movie My Blue Heaven - when his Italian character is having difficulty locating the vegetable in a small town grocery store. I only know this because dear hubby is a "movie line guy" - one of those fascinating people who can quote more lines from movies than the average movie buff. In any case, every time I prepare a recipe that includes this leafy vegetable, I inevitably hear the movie line. Sigh.
From the mustard family, arugula has relations to radishes and watercress, and the flavor of the leaves is similarly hot and peppery. Larger, tougher leaves are more appropriate for sauteing and cooking into dishes, and the smaller, younger leaves have a milder taste and are great in salads.
Here's what we had last night...
A really s-i-m-p-l-e salad.... Arugula Salad with Olives, Pancetta and Parmesan Shavings. I doubted this 6 ingredient salad. The dressing was made up of only lemon juice and olive oil. Well... that's all it needed. This was FANTASTIC. My husband enthusiastically declared this salad as "Restaurant Quality!" This is his highest level of praise for my cooking.
We've successfully used arugula in other dishes...
And chicken... Gruyere, Arugula and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken Breasts
And sandwiches.... Chicken and Arugula Sandwiches
I've heard that arugula is also fantastic in pasta dishes. Haven't tried it that way yet but I imagine I'll get around to that sooner or later.
Printable recipes can be found by clicking on the titles of the recipes above.
Enjoy!Labels: Dinner at 6, Let's do lunch
