5 Arugula Recipes - Bitter Peppery Heaven

 Arugula and other greens I used to make an arugula pesto (recipe below)

I love arugula. That peppery bitter green really is one of my favorites. I planted it way back in February in my little greenhouse. It grew like crazy. But now it is starting to bolt. It gets really hot in that greenhouse and I have been trying to think of my favorite ways to eat the stuff.

Here are a few of my favorite recipes and ideas.

Today with the arugula and other greenhouse greens I made this really tasty salad

Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Arugula Salad
This was for one but it can be made for as many as you want.

First you need some Jamaican Jerk Chicken. I made extra for dinner the night before knowing full well it was going to knock my sandals off in a salad.

Easiest Jamaican Jerk Chicken Ever
1 bottle of Jamaican Style Jerk marinade.
I used this stuff -- loved it.

Chicken tender pieces. I did about 15 and used about 3/4 of the bottle.

Put chicken tenders in a bag with enough marinade to cover.
Marinate for at least an hour.
Remove from bag and grill on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes per side.
Brush with extra marinade from the bottle as you grill. Remove from grill when juices run clear and the tenders are no longer pink.

Salad
1/2 cup arugula
1/2 cup green lettuce (not iceberg)
1/2 cup other green like spinach or baby
2 Jamaican Jerk Chicken Tenders (see recipe above)
1/4 cup cooked peas.
1 oz of Swiss cheese
Raspberry vinaigrette

Toss it and eat it.

One of my absolutely favorite breakfasts right now comes from this tasty foodblogger. I change it up some times by leaving out the bread. I like to pretend it is healthier for me this way.

Avocado, Fried Egg, Arugula, Sandwich
My favorite part of this may just be the Cholula on the top. Love that stuff.
Here is the original recipe from
JOYLICIOUS

Here is how I eat it for breakfasts and lunches with double layers of arugula.

I am kind of a pesto freak. I want to try every flavor of pesto out there. So of course I made some arugula pesto. It was amazing in place of chive pesto in my Chicken Thighs Stuffed With Pesto and Prosciutto

Arugula Pesto

 
2 large garlic cloves
1/4 C walnuts ( or roasted almonds)
1 Cup packed flat leaf parsley and spinach
2 Cups packed Arugula
1/3 C olive oil, plus 1 T
1/8 C fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 Cup shredded Parmesan cheese
cracked pepper

Add garlic, walnuts, parsley and spinach and arugula to a food processor. Process until fully chopped. Add lemon juice and olive oil and process until a paste forms. Pulse a few times with Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.

You can freeze this in icecube trays for later use if you are not using it right away.

A few more ideas I am dying to try.
Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza -- I have had this at a local restaurant and I so want to make homemade version.

Caprese Grilled Cheese With Arugula Pesto -- She has a different version of arugula pesto here and the sandwich looks so amazing. Go check it out.

What is your favorite arugula recipe?

Balsamic Crockpot Pork & Hot Pork Salad

Recipe Trial
So, for my first new recipe of the year I tried a recipe I found on my new addiction. Pinterest. I have to try those recipes too. But I will be getting to the ones floating around my kitchen on scraps of paper as well. I stayed pretty true to the original recipe but I added a few twists. Every kitchen needs a little tweaking going on. 

I buy these 4 packs of pork sirloin tip roasts at Costco. They are cheap but there are not a lot of recipes out there for them. Plus I ALWAYS need good crockpot recipes. I get tired of shredded Mexican pork.Don't you?

So I took this recipe http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/2011/09/slow-cooker-brown-sugar-balsamic-glazed.html from Six Sisters and turned it into this tasty moist pork dinner.

Their recipe called for ground sage and I used a poultry seasoning instead. I loved this pork. It's a KEEPER! The glaze is really sweet but amazing. 

But my favorite part of this recipe was the next day leftovers which I made into a hot pork and spinach mushroom salad topped with a fried egg. MMMM!. I heart leftovers. That recipe is below too.

Balsamic Crockpot Pork Roast

1 two to three pound pork sirloin tip roast or pork loin roast

1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Cup water

Glaze

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Rub roast with poultry seasoning and salt. Add roast and water to slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Brush with glaze during the last hour of cooking time every 15 minutes.

For Glaze:

Combine glaze ingredients in saucepan and heat on medium heat until thickened. Reserve remaining glaze to pour over pork when served.

Hot Pork & Spinach Salad
(Salad for 2)

leftover pork roast cubed. (however much you want in your salad. I used about a half cup for 2 servings.)
1/2 TB olive oil
about 6 mushrooms sliced
3 cups fresh spinach
2 eggs
4 TB freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add sliced mushrooms and saute until they start to soften. Add 1 cup spinach and pork and saute until spinach is wilted and shriveled. Add remaining 2 cups of spinach and saute until slightly wilted but not shriveled. Some can still be crisp but warmed.

Remove from heat and plate for two people.
Add a little more olive oil to an and heat. Add eggs and fry until desired doneness. I like mine a little runny.
So delicious. So easy. And if I do say so myself, it makes this mom who works from home feel a little gourmet for lunch.

Blackberry and Bratwurst Salad

Blackberries are one of my favorite things about August. During the last two weeks, my blackberry and boysenberry bushes are ripe. Every day for a few weeks I have between a half pint and a pint of my little black beauties. I look forward to foraging for a good 5 to 10 minutes each day in my berry patch. Which means every day I am eating them. I am also saving them. Whatever I don't eat each day I flash freeze and then add to a ziploc bag. I almost have enough for jam.

What are you harvesting every day? How are you gobbling up your fresh produce from your living pantry? This week my favorite blackberry idea came when I found a leftover grilled bratwurst. I always try to use my leftovers in new ways. This is how we use our food wisely. Turns out bratwurst and blackberries make a beautiful, savory/sour combo with the tender leaves of spinach.

Blackberry and Bratwurst Salad.

For 1 large meal serving. Increase ingredients as needed per person.

1 to 1 1/2 Cups of Spinach leaves

1 grilled bratwurst sliced

1/2 Cup Blackberries or boysenberries



sliced cucumber
2 TB craisins
1 oz of torn white cheese such as meunster, swiss or fresh mozzarella
A few splashes of balsamic vinegraitte