Arugula
I had two exceptional small meals this week and it just occurred to me that the common denominator was arugula. This is definitely our go-to salad green, and as I learned last summer, there’s a world of difference between the farm-fresh and grocery-store varieties. When you have the real thing, the spiciness, bitterness, and tang are all just right. Here are two simple dishes I put together this week that showcased our kick-ass Brooklyn Grange arugula.
Armenian Arugula Wraps
Slice a zucchini into thin slices, dredge in flour, salt, pepper, and egg wash, and pan-fry. While the zucchini is frying, lay out a long sheet of lavash (thin unleavened Armenian flatbread) and spread with a layer of labne (also called kefir cheese or strained yogurt). Pile one side with a couple of handfuls of arugula and season with olive oil, a squirt of lemon, and salt and pepper. Top with a few fried zucchini slices, then roll up all that tasty goodness as tightly as possible.
Egg-cellent Arugula Salad with Glazed Carrots
Tomorrow is our 7th annual Bastille Day beach party, which is pretty rad because it marks six whole years that I’ve been with Jon. Two and a half years of marriage is great and all, but I’ll never forget our real anniversary, the day I climbed up for that first piggy back ride on the beach and never came back down. This love. This love.
Today, this love meant Jon going to pick up our CSA haul without me (while I was occupied with the maddening trial of waiting in line for an hour and a half at a Rite Aid liquidation sale). He was thoughtful enough to let me FaceTime with the noisy chickens so I wouldn’t totally miss out on the farm experience.
Today’s haul was extraordinary, full of plenty of goodies I can’t wait to get into including fairytale eggplants, wood sorrel, and poona kheera cucumbers. Brooklyn Grange also started carrying SheWolf Bakery bread this week. UNBELIEVABLE.
This afternoon, I had my heart set on making a big beautiful salad for lunch since we had all these great ingredients and Mom was coming over for lunch. The three of us made a big salad of arugula, mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, and marketmore cucumbers from the farm dressed with lemon mustard vinaigrette and topped with caramelized farm carrots and soft-boiled eggs. With slices of sourdough, butter, and feta on the side and an episode of Chef’s Table to follow, it was my definition of sublime.
