Arugula Is Your Best Friend!
Arugula is one leafy green vegetable that stands out as a rich source of many vitamins and minerals. All salad greens are healthy, but not all give you a good dose of nutrients.
Arugula is closely related to broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, and brussels sprouts, some of the best anti-cancer foods around. It has a peppery, mustardy flavor with a slight bitterness.
This plant contains about eight times the calcium, fives times the vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin K, and four times the iron as the same amount of iceberg lettuce. And,
Arugula’s packed full of beta-carotene and things called glucosinolates,(anticancer compounds) which promote the body’s natural detox process.
One cup of cut arugula contains 0.73g total carbohydrate including 0.32g fiber. In % of recommended daily values, arugula is packed with vitamins:
Vitamin A 9 %
Vitamin C 5 %
Calcium 3 %
Iron 2 %
Long popular in France and Italy, the leaves of arugula provide a spicy zap when added to a salad.
And, you can grow some great tasting arugula in your home vegetable garden:
• All you need to do is get a small arugula plant (or start it from seed) and plunk it into a container of good organic potting soil. Keep it moist but not wet, and cut the leaves off as they start to mature.
• As the plant grows it may sprout a few flowers; let these grow and die – they will continually reseed the arugula. The leaves do turn much more bitter as the flowers come out, though, so if you don’t like that just keep picking the leaves young.
- If you don’t want to wait for the plant to bolt and go to seed, buy a packet of seeds and continually reseed. This is a fast crop and it grows from seed in under 45 days. So if you keep a couple pots going and reseed every couple weeks you’ll have arugula continually.
We love arugula because it does double duty as herb and salad green. Arugula salads with blue cheese, pears and pine nuts are classics, but we also like pasta with tomatoes, herbs, and arugula just for flavor.
This peppery green adds a unique bite to all kinds of salads and is delicious tucked into sandwiches as well.
So, if you grow just one thing this spring, make it arugula!
Citrus Olive Oil Arugula Salad
Ingredients:
1 lb. arugula
5 tablespoons pine nuts, raw, fresh as possible
1 large bulb of fennel, cleaned and cored
2 tablespoons lemon zest
Kosher salt, to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 to 5 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved
Instructions
Clean and remove stems from arugula. Place in a bowl and add the pine nuts. Shave fennel very thin. Toss well to mix.
Add lemon zest and salt. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil down the side of the bowl while tossing greens through the oil and evenly coating each leaf with a light dressing of oil.
Add additional oil if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings Divide dressed greens among 4 salad plates and top with cheese. Enjoy!
Want to know more about arugula? Then, post your question below.
Yours truly for great health, mind and body,
Michelle, natural health advocate
January 31 2010 12:59 pm | Green Living and Healthy Eating and Natural Beauty