Fall Arugula Salad

Arugula is one of the only reliably tasty year-round salad greens that exists. I’m sure they grow it in some warehouse in Jersey, but I don’t care. It’s always there when I’m craving a salad.

I’m one of those weird people who like salads even in the depths of winter. While we are far from winter at the moment, I find that as I change out my closets from summer to winter clothing, I change out my lettuces this time of year, too.

The problem is that the fresh ingredients that fill up my summer salads also disappear: tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches to name a few. What’s a salad-mad gal to do? Be flexible, of course. And wander the produce aisle to see what’s available for potential salad poaching. It turns out that there is quite a bit—and it can be colorful, too!

Fall Arugula Salad

Ingredients:

  • 4 Cups arugula
  • ¾ Cup roasted butternut squash
  • Seeds from ½ pomegranate
  • 3 finger-width slices from a goat cheese log–crumbled
  • Red onion slices to taste
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Olive oil and fruit vinegar (3:1 rule)

Directions:

  1. Put arugula, squash, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese, red onion, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix.
  2. Dress salad with olive oil and fruit vinegar. My friend Andrea gave me some mango vinegar, which was fantastic in this dish. Fig or pear would also be great.
  3. Makes 2 main dinner salads or 4 side salads.
Colorful ingredients taste as good as they look

Note: Buying a pomegranate can be intimidating. Don’t let that stop you! Avoid pomegranates that are super-hard, as well as those that have softer mushy spots. Even if the outside skin is not perfect and has a blotch or two, don’t worry, it’s still good 99% of the time. To open, make a one-inch insertion into the side of the fruit with a sharp knife and crack open with your thumbs. Pull out all of the seeds into a bowl. Great on breakfast cereal too! Careful, pomegranate does stain.

 

 

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