This side salad has been our current everyday favourite. It goes well with almost all kinds of dishes.
Fun Fact
I have never had arugula until I came to Germany about 12 years ago. Arugula doesn’t grow in India, and hence it isn’t available ( at least not in the small town where I come from). My first encounter with it in Germany was when I ordered a pizza and there were a few arugula leaves added onto it. I tasted it and did not like it at all. I removed all of the arugula leaves from my pizza and thought who would even think of adding such thing over a pizza. This disliking for arugula continued for some years. Whenever I ordered something that had arugula in it, I would ask it to be removed from the dish. Although otherwise I am not a very picky eater.
Then I came across the fact that arugula has a number of health benefits. It is in fact one of the most nutritious greens that is easily available at supermarkets in Germany. I decided to pick it up again and try including it in me recipes. I started with adding a small quantity into my salads and then developed a taste for it. Now, most of my salads have arugula in it.
How To Make Arugula More Delicious?
- Pat it dry: The very first thing I would insist upon is to wash and nicely dry the arugula. If there is too much water content on the greens, your salad will become soggy and taste watery. You can use a thick kitchen towel, fold the arugula in between and let the towel soak the water for sometime. Alternatively, you could buy prewashed and dried arugula from the market. This saves your time and effort, and hence makes it more readily available for you.
- Do not skip dressing: Add olive oil to your salad. It counters the bitter/sharp taste of the arugula, balancing the flavours. Not only olive oil makes the salads more delicious, it also increases the bio-availability of the greens (meaning that your body is able to absorb more nutrients our of the salad).
- Add fruits: Because arugula has a sharp taste, it is encountered well by adding some fruits into the salad. My top picks are grapes, apple, orange, peach or pear.
How to Combine This (Arugula-Grapes) Salad?
This salad can be paired well with desi (Indian) as well as non-desi food items. If you have desi dishes as a main course, you can have a bowl of salad (separately) in the beginning (as a first course). If having non-desi dishes (like pasta and lasagna), this salad can be served on the side. I often also like to simply mix this salad with some of the pasta that I have made for my kids. This way, the pasta becomes more filling and nutritious.
Have a look at the following pasta/lasagna recipes that could be paired well with this salad:
2 Tips For Nutrition
- Tearing your greens with hands, make them release more phytonutrients, making your salads more nutritious.
- Adding olive oil to the greens, make them more bioavailable for the body. It means that more nutrients are absorbed by the body.
Arugula-Grapes Salad
Ingredients
- 200 grams arugula leaves (washed and dried)
- 150 grams black grapes
- 150 grams cherry tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp mixed seeds
For the dressing
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Tear the arugula leaves with hands and add it to a salad bowl.
- Cut the grapes in half and cherry tomatoes in quarters. Add them to the bowl, along with the mixed seeds.
- Add all the dressing ingredients into the bowl as well.
- Mix well to combine everything together. Serve.