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5 Oct 2007

Arugula or Rocket

Whether you call it Rocket or Arugula, most of us find this tasty and nutritious salad leaf an excellent addition to many dishes both raw and cooked. Popular in Roman times and still widely used in Italy, it only generally became available Worldwide in the last 50 years. It is a member of the Mustard family.

Rocket is an excellent source of vitamins A, C and K, dietary fiber, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium and phosphorus. It is also a good source of many B vitamins, zinc and copper.

If not available at your local market, rocket can be easily grown from Spring to late Autumn. The plants do not like excessivly hot and dry weather so under those conditions plant in the shade of a tree. They do not mind the cold so in most areas they are also classified as a Winter plant. Three or four plantings can be done each year for a regular supply of the leaves. The flowers can also be eaten.

Rocket seeds can also be sprouted (make sure they are purchased as sprouting seeds and not seeds for planting). Details of how to sprout rocket seeds are available at the Sprout People website.

To store, wash the leaves off and dab dry, put in airtight container in the veggie drawer of fridge. Will not keep more than a couple of days.

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Fig, Walnut, Arugula Salad (Raw)
From WH Foods

½ medium onion, sliced thin
2 tbsps white wine or apple cider vinegar
1 cup hot water
8 dried figs, sliced
2 tbsps walnuts
2 bunches arugula (about 8 cups)
2 tbsps balsamic vinegar
sweetner to taste
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Marinate sliced onion in vinegar and hot water while preparing rest of ingredients. Rinse and dry arugula. If you have a salad spinner that is best, otherwise, dry with paper towels. This will avoid dressing getting diluted. Whisk together balsamic vinegar, sweetner, salt and pepper, drizzling olive oil a little at a time at the end. Toss with rest of ingredients and serve. Serves 4.


Arugula, Radish, and Sauteed Mushroom Salad
(or you could use Raw Mushrooms if on a Raw Food diet)
From Mariquita

2 large bunches of arugula, coarse stems discarded and the leaves washed well and spun dry (about 8 packed cups)
2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms, lightly sauteed in a bit of oil or butter and cooled
1 cup grated watermelon radish (or daikon if watermelon radishes are unavailable)
3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
fresh lemon juice from one large or two small lemons
Vegan Parmesan (optional)
sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine the arugula, mushrooms, and the radish, drizzle the oil over the salad, and toss the salad gently. Toss with the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with Vegan Parmesan. Serves 4 to 6.


Flash-Cooked Greens with Garlic and Lime (Cooked)
From the Vegetarian Times
This three-minute side dish is great for people who don’t like more strongly flavored leafy greens like kale and collards.

2 tbsps olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
8 cups baby spinach (about 5 oz.)
4 cups arugula leaves (about 2 bunches)
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp red wine vinegar

Heat oil, garlic and pepper flakes in large skillet over medium heat. Cook 2 minutes, or until garlic is browned. Add spinach and arugula, and cook 1 minute, or until barely wilted and heated through, tossing with tongs. Remove from heat, and stir in lime juice and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and serve. Serves 6



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22 comments:

Wally Banners said...

not my dinner fare but, You got my Battle of the Blogs Vote:)

dreamy said...

I have never heard of this plant, thanks for the post!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful food. Get so many innovative food ideas from your site.

laura k said...

This is one of the few veggies (along with fennel) that I've just NEVER been able to make myself like, in any shape or form. It's too bad--sounds like it's extremely healthy, and those recipes do sound tempting.

Anonymous said...

I like your blog very much, and thank you for the great post with valuable recipes. Love argula too, yet the recipes you mentioned are new and worth trying out for sure :)

urban vegan said...

My very favorite---I especially love baby arugula--so tender. We call it arugula here, but I want to call it rocket just to be different ;)

adavait said...

you have a wonderfull blog and definitely doing good work.

Anonymous said...

yum...this is my favourite green!!!

Sheila said...

I dearly love rocket and struggle to find it here in Mid America. It reminds me so of Italy. I love a salad with pears, dried cherries, balsamic, pecans and olive oil and cheese. We have one vendor at our farmers market who sells it fresh.

bazu said...

Oh, how I love me some arugula. Bless the Italian immigrants who made sure that we have it here in the U.S. 100 years ago!

Cherry said...

I have never heard of this plant.


I found this plant in Wikipedia, wonder if this is really the same thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arugula

Sharon Lynne said...

I want to try to grow this plant! Its probably too late to plant it here in Southern California...but if it is okay in the winter...like you said..then maybe I could try it!

Jackie said...

To quote a farming site: Winter arugula, grown in Florida, is crisper and better tasting now than at any other time of year. So all the southern States should be fine.

Anonymous said...

I love rocket! It's great for a simple salad with lemon and parmesan or in a pesto! Delicious!

Theresa said...

It's called Rocket in Australia, and I've never been quite sure if it's the same thing as arugula, or just very similar. Thanks for clearing that up!

Diane Dehler said...

Thanks for the inspiring menu and it was nice to hear from you. Hope all is well in your place of the world.

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Kumudha said...

I'm inspired to try arugula by seeing wonderful arugula recipes.

Marion said...

It's called arugula here, and it self seeds itself in my garden...I have it all year round. It's great, I add it to soups and stews as well.

thanks for the recipes, Jackie!

Anonymous said...

35 Raw Food Recipes on 6 DVDs, plus interviews with gurus like David Wolfe that you don't want to miss!

Naomi said...

I had a lot of rocket based salads when I was in Italy earlier this year. It is popular here in England too Jackie

Unknown said...

That's great to hear how nutritious rocket is. I live in Cyprus where it is grown locally and is very cheap. I eat it every day at least once in salad. I did wonder if it was doing me any good!