Published September 7, 2011 08:29PM
Arugula
Spice up your summer meals with this flavorful little green
With all the bags, boxes, and bunches of arugula available everywhere from farm stands to supermarket cases, it’s hard to believe that not that long ago, the spicy leaves were a specialty green found only in high-end restaurants and Italian eateries. As arugula’s popularity has grown, so have its uses in the kitchen. The following pages offer a few new ways to try the peppery leaves.
RECIPES:
Cantaloupe-Arugula Salad (pictured)
Arugula-Ricotta Omelet for One
Goat Cheese-Arugula Bruschetta
How to Choose & Store
Annabel Khouri of Bay Branch Farm, an urban market garden in Lakewood, Ohio, shares her best tips for selecting and storing arugula.
Look for small leaves and stalks, especially at farmers’ markets. “Huge leaves and big stalks mean plants have gone by. They don’t taste as good.”
Don’t choose wild if you don’t like spicy. Wild arugula is not technically wildit’s a variety with smaller, pointier leaves and a spicier flavor.
Refrigerate arugula in a salad spinner. Khouri washes the greens, spins them dry, leaves the water in the bottom of the spinner, and stores the arugula in the spinner in the fridge: “This keeps it really fresh for up to a week.”