I think Arugula is one of the best greens Mother Nature invented. Because of arugula, I'm enjoying fresh green salad a whole lot more, in fact I eat arugula like every other day, because I like arugula's peppery flavor which adds a great deal of flavor to the salad without me having to add all kinds of dressings, oils, or vinegars. And eating greens is good for you because it's roughage. That's right good old roughage full of fiber so we have healthy b-movements.
Plus, I don't know about you, but I am soooo done with ice berg! Years of dieting will definitely make one very tired of the ice berg.
As much as I love this green leafy goodness, I get that fresh arugula can be a bit too much for some people. The common complaint I hear is, "...but it's so bitter." The first time I had arugula, I thought the same thing. If you steam arugula like spinach or cook it in a dish like my favorite Mango, Chicken (or Tempeh) and Arugula, then the bitter peppery taste calms down quite a bit.
So, here's an easy trick to help make eating fresh arugula in salad a more pleasant experience without drowning the poor green in dressing. Mix the arugula in with mixed greens. Yup, see, easy!
At Whole Foods in the fresh produce section in my area, there is typically four bins of greens: arugula, spinach, mixed greens, and exotic mixed greens where they put things in like chards. In the picture, is a local farmer's market where the vendor had all kinds of baskets of different greens. It's like a greens buffet.
I'll fill a bag with a tongful from each of the bins, and do a shake n' bake type of thing in the bag. So voila! The arugula is now mixed with other greens that are less or non bitter so now, each bite you take is flavorful versus too bittery.
